A Clever Plot Gone Wrong
by RandomSelection
Summary: MARAUDERS ERA Why would Lily Evans suddenly start kissing James Potter? Love potion, of course! But will the Marauders be able to prove that it wasn't James who spiked Lily's sweets? And will anyone belive it ... especially Lily herself?
1. Chapter 1

**A Clever Plot Gone Wrong**

Chapter 1

It was Christmas time, castle and grounds deeply covered in snow, the lake frozen, and everybody instinctively lowered their voices, talking in whispers –everybody exept James Potter and Sirius Black, who were having a furious snowball-fight and making one hell of noise: shouting, whooping, yelling, cursing and laughing. Remus Lupin, who knew better than to get himself into that, was leaning against a tree and watching the commotion from a save distance. He shook his head at the behaviour of his friends, smiling nonetheless. They were such childs, those two!

Suddenly, Remus' amused smile grew into a expectant grin, as he saw yet another figure crossing the grounds at speed, heading in their direction. There was no mistaking the newcomers identity: Slim frame, flaming red hair, blazing emerald eyes …

"POTTER!" Add 'impressive volume' to the list, and whom do you get? Yep: Lily Evans.

As Remus had predicted (well, no great achievement there, anybody could have), James spun around instantly and, dropping his snow-ball, his hand flew to his hair. "Yes, my Lily-flower?" he answered, faking sweet innocence.

Of course, that was a mistake. Not because he had used Lily's pet-name (which she happened to hate), for he was used to her death glare by now and left completely unperturbed, but because he'd let his guard down, which is never a good thing when dealing with a Black. And this particular Black sized his opportunity without a second's hesitation: His snowball hit James squarely in the back of the head and, catching him by surprise, send him head first into the snow. A second snowball, thrown only a moment later, was aimed at Lily. Remus had barely time to think that Sirius really shouldn't have – but Lily had her wand out in an instant. She whipped it, the snowball reversed direction, gathered speed, multiplied on the way, and fore mentioned Black, yelping in shock, was hit into the chest by about a dozen snowballs and, by the sheer force of impact, thrown flat on his back.

Remus had to hold on to the tree to remain standing, he was howling with laughter – as was James, who fell back to the ground, unable to get up. Even Lily couldn't suppress a satisfied smile at the sight of Sirius Black struggling to get himself into a sitting position. He had a slightly dazed expression on his face, was rubbing his chest were the snowballs had hit him, but he grinned broadly and his eyes sparkled: "Wow, Evans!" he said, obviously impressed.

"Didn't know you had it in you … Show me that spell, will you?"

Lily's smile was gone at once. "No, I certainly won't, Black!" she snapped. "You're unbearable already, and you would only use it on Sev- on innocent poeple!" she corrected herself, blushing angrily.

"On Snivellus?" Sirius' smile became evil. "That's an idea … thanks, Evans. Now, what was the spell again?" Lily turned away from him. "O come on! Even you must have realized by now that he's nothing more than a git!"

"I think he's got a point there." James murmured, half to himself.

"And why should I give a damn on that you think, Potter?"

James was taken aback. He hadn't expected such a sharp reply – they were mostly getting along well these days: Lily only yelled at him one or twice a day and he would refrain from asking her out more than four or five times … and sometimes their fights were almost playful, as if … "You all right?" he asked concerned. "Why are you in such a bad mood?"

The angry fire in Lily's eyes ceased a little and a subtle change in her expression seemed to indicate the possibility of her actually considering to answer instead of yelling at him (what would have been nice, for a change), when Sirius interjected: "PMS, obviously."

There was a flash of light an a deafening bang, and next second Lily was hoisted in the air by an ankle, her wand falling to the ground an her robes hanging down over her upper body, revealing – nothing more than a pair of pink trousers, thank god. Wait a second – Lily? Everything had happened so fast that Remus needed a second to catch on: It seemed that Lily had shot a spell an Sirius, who had managed to block it (Remus couldn't help to admire the swiftness of his friend's wandwork, for he himself had barely seen a thing). The spell had rebounded from his shield-charm, it had hit Lily – and the effect was to be seen.

"Never thought I'd see you use this spell!" Sirius voiced the thoughts of every Marauder. "Full of surprises today, you are!"

"Let me down, you bastard!" shrieked Lily. "Let me down NOW!"

"Language, Evans", Sirius retorted lazily, "or I might just decide to leave you dangling there for some time. It would increase the blood supply of your brain, you know, and maybe …" But James new better than to go there. "Let her down, Padfoot", he ordered wearily. "Relax, Lily, I'm gonna catch you!"

"I – don't – WANT – you – to – catch – me!" she screamed at the top of her voice, sounding quite deranged. "I – don't – WANT –"

Crash! In her fury and frustration Lily had started to wriggle and kick out, unable to see anything because of her robes, and James, who had approached her to be in position when Sirius would remove the spell, hadn't got out of the way quick enough … Now he was on the ground once again, clenching his nose and cursing violently through the freely flowing blood. And while Sirius rushed to his aid, it was up to Remus to release Lily. She almost landed on top of James, but, without another word or even so much as a glance in his direction, got up and stormed away, up to the castle. All three boys looked after her, then at each other, and it was James who spoke this time: "What the hell is gone into her today?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When the Marauders entered the common-room five minutes later, they found it almost deserted, only two girls were sitting next to the window, playing wizard's chess, and somewhere in the back some fourth-year was reading. The girls were in sixth year, like them: Tara Whitman and Rebecca Holmes, Lily's best friends. Both looked up when they heard the portrait-hole open, and Rebecca gasped: „What happened to you?" She was referring to James' robes, which were stained with blood. But he only shrugged and turned to the boy's dormitories. „I'm gonna change."

But Rebecca got up and with some swift steps blocked the way to the stairs. „Wait a second! What did you do to Lily?"

„You should better ask what she did to me!"

Another gasp. „_Lily_ did that?"

„Not intentionally!" James admitted. „Look, will you let me put on a fresh shirt? Remus can tell the story ... "

And so he did. „... then James asked her if everything was all right, but before she could say a thing, Sirius came up with a really helpful comment ..." His sarcasm was of course completely wasted on Sirius, who only grinned. „... about, you know, _this time of the month_, and ..."

„Didn't use that many words, in fact."

„ ... and Lily just freaked out!" Remus continued without missing a beat. „I mean, it was a stupid thing to say, no doubt about it, but Lily has known Sirius for years now, so ..."

„Oi!" Sirius shouted with mock anger.

„ ... so she should be used to it by now, and I expected her to shoot something back at him like she normally does – but not a curse!" He draw a deep breath. „Especially not this curse."

„She tried to use ‚Levicorpus' on him", James explained, and the questioning expressions of the two girls turned to disbelieve. „No! No way! Lily loathes this curse, ever since you used it on Snape!"

„I know", said James. „But that's what she did."

„And how did you get a nosebleed when Lily cursed Sirius?" Tara asked.

„We didn't say she did", Sirius corrected her, „we said she tried to. But naturally, I was way to fast, so I blocked her spell! Being Hogwarts' undefeated dueling champion certainly has its advantages", he added in his most arrogant voice, and everyone grinned.

„Well, to get on with the story: The spell rebounded, and it hit Lily. And while she tried to get free, she accidentally kicked James."

„Yeah, and when she run off without another word!" James burst out. „She could at least have apologized!"

„She was acting strange", agreed Remus. „It's not like her to lose control like that." He looked at Rebecca. „What's going on with her?"

The girls changed a swift look, then signed. „Lily's having a rough time these days", Rebecca started to explain. „Didn't you wonder why she decided to stay during the holidays?"

„I did." James, of course.

„Her parents are on holiday surfing – no, wait ... screening ..." The tall, black girl pulled a face in confusion. „ Oh, you know, this strange Muggle-thing where you slide down mountains with large planks attached under your feet!"

„Skiing", Remus offered, smiling.

„Yes, thank you! Skiing they are, somewhere in Austria, with Lily's horrible horse-faced sister and her unbearable porky block-head of a boyfriend!"

There was a lot of sniggering due to her vivid description. „Sounds like an animal farm to me", Sirius said, grinning – Remus looked up in surprise, but realized all too quickly that his old friend had by no means tried to make a reference to a work of literature. He should've known better! „Poor children! All teeth and buttocks, most likely!"

„But too narrow-minded to notice!"

„And so ..." Rebecca had to rise her voice to make herself heard, „... Lily decided she'd rather stay here. Said she couldn't stand two weeks in their company. But she misses her parents nonetheless – its her first time not being at home on Christmas, and she's afraid that it's going to be like this from now on: that her sister and this bloke will drive her out of her parents' lifes."

For some seconds, nobody spoke. Then Tara asked: „What about you three? Don't you usually go home over Christmas? And where's Pete?-" She spoke to Sirius, and Rebecca had to hide a smile. She knew that Tara had long since had a secret crush on Remus Lupin and had only addressed Black to avoid Remus. She saw James' lips twitch ... maybe Tara's ‚secret crush' wasn't that secret after all. She caught his eye, letting her gaze flicker between her friend and Remus – and got a tiny confirming nod in return. That was settled then ... and the first idea of a plan began to form in her mind ...

In the meantime, Sirius was answering Tara's the question. „Well, Wormtail has gone home like a good boy. Prongs here is obviously staying because Evans is, and me ... well, let me put it this way: I would've felt a tad bit strange celebrating Christmas Eve at his home, just his parents and me. And if you eventually should be interested in our dear Moony's reasons to enlighten this place with his glorious presence ..."

„Oh, shut up, Padfoot!" Remus told his smirking friend and tried to ignore the fact he felt himself blushing – which was true for Tara as well, for Sirius voice had been heavy with implications.

„Well", Rebecca said dryly, „that must be the least secret ‚secret crush' I've ever heard off!" It took her about two seconds to realize the stunned silence that followed her words. „Oops! Didn't say that loud, didn't I?"

„Judging on the most interesting change of color our two love-birds are just displaying", Sirius remarked in the most casual way, „I'd say you did indeed." James chuckled amused, for both, Tara and Remus, showed even more impressive shades of red at this, and none of them seemed to know that to do or were to look.

„Okaaay", Rebecca slowly said after a few seconds, „before any of you dies of embarrassment, I'd say _you_", she pointed at Tara, „should look for some place to hide – not the dormitories!" she added quickly, „Take the next empty classroom instead! And now _you_", she told Remus, after her completely confused friend had stumbled out of the portrait-hole, „go and find her, shouldn't prove too difficult!" Remus opened his mouth, but she drove over him. „No backtalk, Mr. Moony! Get going – and don't you screw this up!"

Remus had not even closed the portrait-hole when Sirius exploded with laughter. „That was – classic!" he choked. „Did you see their faces? Priceless!" And suddenly he grabbed Rebecca round the waist, pressed her against his body and kissed her full on the mouth. „You're brilliant, you know! – Gotta go!" And next second, he'd run out of the room. They heard him shout something like „see if I can spy on Moony and Tara", then there was silence.

Rebecca stood exactly where he had released her, eyes wide with surprise and a dreamy expression on the face. „Wow." She blinked multiple times, looking dazed. „Wow!"

„What's happened to her?" asked a small voice from the girls' dormitories. James didn't need to look round. „Overdose of Black-ness", he answered, grinning. „Sirius kissed her."

„Ah."

„Yeah. He has this effect on many girls."

„I've noticed." Lily came round the couch and sat down – not next to him, but quite close nonetheless. „Problem is he knows it, and that makes him ..."

„... an unbearably arrogant berk at times." he finished.

„Something like that." She smiled. It was only a little and quite a sad smile, but it made James heartbeat speed up. Then her expression chanced to annoyance. „Honestly!" She waved her hand in front of Rebecca's eyes, who still hadn't moved. „What's pathetic, you know!"

„Huh? Lily? When did you get here?"

„About half an hour ago!" she replied sarcastically, but her lips were twitching. „Will you sit down now or go and find him?"

„Find ... who?"

„Father Christmas, of course!"

„Why should I go and find ... who's father?" She sure took her some time to come round. „Oh, right ... well ... gotta go!"

They both watched her sprint out of the common-room. "Seems to be a good day for match-making …" Lily said, absent-mindedly.

"Seems to be." And without thinking, just out of habit and because he'd done so hundreds of times during the last six years, James asked: "Wanna go out with me?" The words had barely left his lips when he'd given anything to take them back. He knew this was the wrong moment, knew he was being insensible, knew he had screwed up royally this time, but it was too late. With painful clearness he saw Lily's expression change from sadness to disappointment, from half-content to full-contempt. Her smile was gone, and the fire was back in her eyes – not the fire he loved, not passion and compassion, but a fury that bordered abhorrence. "NO!" she screamed at him. "When hell freezes over! I'd rather go out with Snape, even now!" He'd raised his hands in an helpless gesture, but he knew it was no good, of no use. It was too late. Lily stormed back to the spiral staircase, but turned round before climbing up. "I came to apologize to you, James", she said, and her voice was very quiet, almost a whisper, and her sadness and disappointment hurt him deeper than all her furious yelling and screaming could ever have. "I wanted to say sorry for earlier, and I meant it. But you …" She sounded close to tears now, "… you …" Then she was gone.

James Potter sat alone, head in his hands, tears falling silently into his lap. "I'm sorry, Lily", he whispered, "I'm so sorry!" He knew she wouldn't hear him. It was to late.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

A strange and unusual atmosphere hung over Gryffindor Tower the next days, for things were diverse and complicated: Tara and Remus were sitting together most of the time holding hands, reading or talking quietly to each other. Rebecca and Sirius, on the other hand, chose, in accordance to their characters, a slightly different way to display their affection; their behaviour contained a lot of running around and tackling one another, playful fights and tickling-matches with plenty of high-end snogging thrown in ... everything all right so far. But both couples from time to time would suddenly stop whatever they were doing (yes, even Rebecca and Sirius would un-knot their tongues for a minute) and cast sad looks in direction of the dormitories, where they knew James and Lily. Not together, of course, but each of them alone, refusing to come down or talk to anybody.

When Tara and Remus had returned to the common room that day (for the other two miraculously had only reappeared round midnight), they'd found James in a complete mess. He had no longer been crying, but staring motionless at the wall, and when Remus had addressed him, he hadn't reacted in any way. His face was pale, and the look in his eyes, when he finally had acknowledged their presence, had shocked them both: dull and hollow it had been, as if some spark had been extinguished that had always glimmered there. „I've lost her." That was all he said. „I always thought that ... one day ... But today I've lost her for good." And then Remus had realized what had been extinguished in his friend's eyes: the glimmer of hope that had never for one second left them ever since James, on the train to Hogwarts back in their first year, had laid his eyes on Lily Evans for the first time. Remus had tried to console him, had asked what had happened, but James had only shook his head, got up and, head hanging, a picture of complete and utter defeat, slowly made his way up the stairs to the dormitory, where he had closed the curtains round his four-poster, performed a shield-charm to keep everybody out and remained hidden ever since.

And Lily, as Tara had discovered, was acting quite similar, only without the spell; a sobbed „Leave me alone!" had been everything she'd got for an answer. Non of them even came down to the take part in the meals, so their friends would take some food to the dormitories, but they hardly ever touched it at all. Sirius, though not less concerned than Remus and he girls, had argued that this was getting ridiculous and suggested just to wait. „They can't hide in there forever! They'll eventually get hungry and come down, then they can talk to one another and sort this out!" But Remus had pointed out that maybe it was a good thing neither Lily nor James were present in the Great Hall at mealtimes these days. Problem was: The news of James Potter and Lily Evans having a serious fight that seemed to be the end of their love-hate-relationship (love on one, hate on the other side, people used to joke) had travelled through the whole school like wildfire, helped along by one stupid Gryffindor fourth-year, who had, completely forgotten by everyone, sat quietly in the back of the common room, observing everything – and who was now sharing his newly acquired insights with pleasure and enthusiasm. When Sirius had cornered him and told him to keep his mouth shut if he didn't want to spend New Year's Eve in the hospital wing, it had been to late: From Hufflepuff first-years that would quail and run when Sirius glared at them to Severus Snape, who looked as if he had just been appointed Supreme Ruler of the Universe, every single person in the school knew what had happened and was sporting an opinion about it – and that included the staff. Even Prof. McGonnagall had expressed her concerns, but admitted all the same that there was nothing for her to do. „Do keep an eye on them, will you?" Walking away, they heard her mutter something about „those two" and „get on with it".

The two couples were sitting in the common room on their own (for a certain fourth year seemed to have developed a sudden liking for the library). Rebecca was fondling Sirius, who had his head resting in her lap, and Tara and Remus shared on armchair next to the fireplace, pretending to read. Suddenly Remus closed his book with a snap and got up. „I've had enough!" he announced. The others looked at him in surprise. „What do you mean, Moony, old friend?" Sirius asked.

„This!" He indicated the stairs. „You're right, Padfoot, this is getting ridiculous! I mean, we don't even know what James said or did! What on earth could be bad enough for both of them not to come down for three days?"

„No idea. So what are you gonna do?"

„Talk to James."

„We tried that, remember? He doesn't want to."

„_I don't care!_ In fact, I give a damn on what he wants! I get him down here now and make him explain, or you will me see skinny dipping next full moon, Sirius!"

And with his rather cryptic words he stormed up the stairs to the boy's dormitory, leaving behind two confused girls and one grinning Sirius. „Blimey, he's scary when he gets like that! – Happens not too often", he explained, „for our dear Moony most of the time is far to nice and polite to act like this, but when he's really pissed about something – furious, that is", he corrected himself hastily when catching Rebecca's eye, „you wouldn't wanna cross him! Poor Prongs!"

„Do you really think Remus will be able to make him come down?" Tara asked doubtfully.

„Able to?" Sirius grinned. „My dear Tara, that new boyfriend of yours is capable of almost anything, if he really sets his mind on it. I know he is the type that likes to be in the background, but he might just surprise you if you give him the chance!"

Whatever Tara might have wanted to reply was drowned by an almighty bang from upstairs.

„There he goes!" Sirius stretched, yawning. „Prongs tried to block him out with this stupid shield-charm of his, and now Moony has forced his way though. Old Prongsie will need a new four-poster tonight, and Hagrid can use what's left of the old one to light his fire." He chuckled. „I _love_ that guy!"

The girls stared, Rebecca even scowled. "Hey, relax, okay? I love him like a brother – far more in fact, considering what jerk of a brother I have. And it holds true for both these guys up there …"

There were slow footsteps coming down the stairs, and all three of them turned round. James came into sight, and he looked worse by far than three days ago. Face pale, cheeks hollow, eyes bloodshed … "O my God!" breathed Rebecca, and Tara was covering her mouth with both hands. Sirius had leaped on his feet, grabbed his friend and shook him roughly. "Are you nuts?" he almost yelled at him. He pushed him into a chair, and with a flick of his wand summoned a plate with sandwiches and a goblet of pumpkin-juice they had brought from the Great Hall. "Eat!" James opened his mouth. "Be quiet! You look terrible, you can hardly stand, you haven't eaten properly for days or slept more than a few hours! And I'm taking a leaf out of Moony's book now and make you eat! Eat – or I swear a Marauder's Vow to curse you into oblivion!"

"Would be a vast improvement!" muttered James, but he grabbed a sandwich nonetheless, and maybe something like the shade of a smile flickered across his features.

When he finally pushed his plate away, James found four pairs of eyes looking at him. He sighed and closed his eyes. "You wanna know what happened …" And then he told them everything, leaving nothing out, not glossing over anything. "I was so stupid! If I'd just been able to hold my tongue! I didn't even mean to ask … I just let it slip." He hung his head. "Lily didn't even yell at me or call me …" He drew a unsteady breath. "There was such disappointment in her voice! She couldn't even talk to me!" He looked at Sirius, Remus, then at the girls, tears glittering in his eyes. "I've really lost her. She'll never forgive me."

Tara and Rebecca looked at him in disbelieve. Was this really James Potter? Head-Marauder, master prankster, handsome, funny and self-confident, maybe the most popular and certainly one of the most desirable guys at Hogwarts? Completely broken down because of – Lily?

"You really do love her", Tara whispered. "And all the years I thought …o James, I'm sorry!"

He managed something close to a smile. "It's not your fault I've been acting like 'an arrogant bullying toerag' for years." The quotation-marks were evident for everybody.

"That you have done", she said slowly and pushed a strand of blond hair out of her eyes, "but you don't do it any more." Her eyes grew wide. "Only now I realize …" She looked at him as if she'd never seen him properly before. "You've stopped hexing people for fun … you no longer play pranks on students who have no chance to defend themselves … you've even stopped bullying Snape – well, almost at least."

"Well, Moony, what do you say to that?" If he tried to sound lightly, James failed miserably. There were only sadness and resignation in his voice. "You always said that _somebody_ would notice – proved right, as usual!" The smile Remus returned was almost as sad as James' had been.

"We'll make Lily see it, too!" Tara's voice was optimistic, full of energy. "I mean, you changed _for_ _her_, right? She was the one who always told you to grow up, to mature – and so you did! We'll show her, and maybe …"

But James shook his head. "It's no use", he said. "She didn't notice before, no one did. And now …she doesn't care any more whether I changed or not – if she ever did. No, it's too late."

"Don't you give up now!" They all looked up in surprise, it wasn't like Tara to sound like this: She normally was a very quiet person, and a little shy, but now she used a sharp, commanding tone of voice that Prof. McGonnagall would have been proud of, and her eyes, usually of a mild shade of blue, were blazing with determination. Remus stared at her in awe. "Since when does a Marauder chicken out on a challenge? Didn't you guys always say that you could achieve anything?"

"Tara's right, James", said Remus and smiled proudly at his girlfriend – a true and warm smile that made her shiver. "Show Lily that you're sorry, that you want to be her friend again, because friends you have been this year … in a strange way."

James, unsure, looked at Sirius. "What do you think, Padfoot?"

Sirius shrugged. "Might as well give it a try, mate. Look at it this way: You've got nothing to lose, have you? Things can't possibly get any worse!" Tara stared at him as if he'd gone mad, but Remus chuckled silently and James …James Potter grinned like he'd lost his mind. He got up from his chair and slapped Sirius playfully round the head. "You're completely wacko, know that?" He looked at everyone in turn. "Thank you, guys", he said in a serious voice. "I owe you for that – and I won't forget!" Then his expression changed: Something of the old mischievous glint flickered in his eyes. "So … what's the plan?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lily Evans felt terrible – and this was Potters fault, as usual. Insensitive fool! Arrogant annoying unbearable bullying git! She sighed. That was the problem, part of it: He didn't behave like that any more. She didn't know when she had noticed this, and when she had been able to admit it, even to herself, but there was no point denying it any longer: James Potter had changed. He had started to act responsible, even mature ... and she had realized, that, knowing he could actually take things seriously, she had suddenly started to like his carefree behaviour, his jokes and his laughter, even his pranks! She had caught herself looking forward to meet him, for he usually made her smile, and even to him asking her out five time a day! Of course, there was no way she would ever consider the possibility of the idea of hypothetically going out with him even in theory, but ... well, that sentence sounded a lot like ‚denial', even to herself.

Who was she trying to fool? She'd started liking him. He was nice (in an annoying way, but nice), funny, rather clever, not to mention good-looking ... But how could she possibly change her mind now and giving in after yelling at him for five years? That was impossible! Besides (a small smile played around the corners of her mouth), it had been fun to yell at him! She'd rather enjoyed it! The way he would just grin at her, seeming completely unconcerned, giving her a wink – and asking her out again ten minutes later! She couldn't help admiring his persistence ... and his courage. So they'd become kind of friends, and to her, her daily yelling and at him had changed to something like a ritual, to her own special way showing her affection. Lily knew perfectly well that this was quite a twisted and complicated way to handle things, but what other options were there? Well, she could just admit that her feelings for him had changed, couldn't she? But what if? What if he didn't want to be just friends? She certainly wasn't prepared for ... _more_. And even if she would have been: What if everything had always been a game, a chase to him, as she had assumed in the beginning? What if he'd get bored after two weeks and dump her? What if he broke her heart?

So she had let things flow. And now ... Lily had to suppress a sob. She had been quite harsh to him out there, but she hadn't meant it, just as she hadn't meant to hurt him. And when she had plugged up the courage to go to the common room to apologize, they had shared a really comfortable moment there ... she had been about to tell him about her sister and everything, for she had had a feeling ... it had seemed right to go to him for consolation – and then he'd had nothing better to do than ask her out again! Insensitive fool! Arrogant annoying unbearable bullying git! She sighed. _Going through it again, are you, Lily? Oh, why not, it can only be the umpteenth time or so!_

But talking to herself would not stop her being hungry, so she decided to get up and grab something to eat. Some time ago, she'd heard footsteps enter the dormitory, the noise of a tray put down, and the person leaving without a word. It would've been Tara, it was usually her who brought her food … Lily felt a little twinge of guilt, she hadn't really treated her friends very well the last three days … but hopefully they would understand.

A moment later she realized that it was highly unlikely for her friends to understand anything, because they had no idea that she, for some time now, had started thinking of James Potter as a friend, and therefore would rather be confused about the intensity of her reaction. She felt herself blush. What would they think? But before she could think about this any longer, she got distracted, for the was indeed a tray standing on the table, but except a pile of sandwiches and a cup of tea there were two pieces of parchment, a small one on top of a bigger one that had curled up to a roll.

Lily read the small one first, smiled to herself and proceeded to the other:

_Dear Lily, _

_please don't burn this or shred it to pieces or something! I just want to say that I'm really sorry about what happened, what I said. I didn't mean to, I just … kind of let it slip. I know I've been acting like an insensitive idiot (surprise!) and maybe you'll never want to speak to me again, but I don't want to lose you as a friend – we have been friends these last months, haven't we? I don't expect you to believe me, but I'm going to prove to you that I'm serious, if you let me. _

Your James Potter 

Lily couldn't help but smile – this actually was kind of cute. She believed what the letter said, and was also quite happy about the "being friends"-thing, too. But she had no intention to let James know that, not yet. What she did was this: She touched the parchment with the tip of her wand, muttered an incantation, dipped her quill into the ink and wrote:

_Potter, if you write an apology, it would be decent not to spy on me while I'm reading it, but to wait for an answer!_

For two minutes, nothing happened. Then words appeared on the parchment next to her own:

_- Lily, I didn't spy on you, I was just afraid you'd destroy the letter instead of reading it! And how did you know?_

Grinning, Lily replied:

_That's for me to know and for you to guess!_

She didn't have to wait long for the answer:

_- Well, I guess then you're just as clever as you're beautiful._

Torn between amusement and annoyance, she replied:

_I'd be careful there, if I were you!_

_- Sorry again! I'm really trying, but … well, it's not easy. But since we're on speaking terms again: Lily, would you please come down so I can apologize properly?_

_No._

_- Ah, why not?_

_Because you still have to prove to me that you're serious. Your letter was not too bad as a start, but I hope your not finished already._

Lily expected an answer along the lines of "Oh, I haven't even started yet, you'll see!" – something typical Potter-ish, so to speak, but he surprised her again.

_- Thank you, Lily. I won't let you down. Not this time. James_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

"Flowers … boring! Bewitching the armour-suits to sing love-songs … done it last year! Write a poem …"

Sirius snorted. "Lack of capability!"

James glared at him. "Thanks a lot, Padfoot! Why don't you try to be constructive for a change …"

Sirius grinned. "Don't I always?"

"… since it's your fault I'm in this mess!"

"Whoa! Wait a moment, mate! How could it possibly be my fault that you've run out of ideas to impress Lily?"

"If you had kept your mouth shut, Lily wouldn't have tried to hex you, her spell wouldn't have backfired, she wouldn't have kicked me, we wouldn't have gotten into that stupid fight and …"

"I spot one or the other tiny flaw in this chain of arguments", Sirius retorted, still smiling. "Firstly …"

"Guys!" Remus interrupted firmly. "Don't you think we have more important things to do than discuss James' logic?"

James nodded and returned his attention to the parchment where he had been writing down his ideas. It was a rather short list, sadly to say. He pulled a face. "Maybe Padfoot had a point there", he admitted slowly. "I've run out of ideas … I've done everything I can think of!"

"You're approaching this the completely wrong way", Tara told him absent-mindedly, without stopping tracing the lines of Remus' hand with her finger. James looked at her, frowning, but doubtlessly interested. Tara had proved herself very helpful, for she had come up with the idea to apologize by letter in the first place. Rebecca, on the other hand, had been unusual quiet during the last hours. "Why's that?" he asked.

"Boys!" She shook her head. "Look, James: For the last five years you've twisted yourself into knots to impress Lily, to convince her of the sincerity of your feelings, to make her love you back, and you've done it by going out of your way to make a fool out of yourself and to embarrass her – preferably in front of the whole school …" She stopped, because Remus and Sirius had started to laugh. "What?"

"Nicely put, sweetheart!" whispered Remus into her ear, grinning. Tara glanced at James, who was smiling, too.

"However, that's not what you want now, is it? You don't want to impress Lily …"

"…especially if we take into account how well _that_ worked out during the last five years …"

"… but you want to win her trust and her friendship! And neither love-songs nor poems will help you there!"

James considered this, then nodded. "Found yourself a smart girl there, Moony", he told his friend – and was rewarded by both of them blushing. "If I'd had your advice earlier, Tara, maybe Lily and I …" But Tara shook her head. "The James Potter of fourth year wouldn't have listened to me. You didn't listen to anybody, James! Lily was right about you – back then. You needed to realize first just how much you were willing to do for her …" She was distracted by all three boys staring. "What?" she asked again.

Sirius smiled at her – not his blazing pick-up smile, but a small, almost fond one. "You sure _are_ an impressive person, Tara", he said slowly. "I think I begin to understand now why Moony has had a crush on you since last spring – he has realized it far quicker than anyone else! Of course he's much cleverer than Prongs or I", he added. Making the couple blush was one of his favourite ways to entertain himself these days – except of snogging Rebecca senseless. Speaking of Rebecca … James noticed she didn't look too happy about Sirius making compliments to Tara – Padfoot, on the other hand, didn't notice. And he himself had more important things on his mind. "But how am I going to do this? I've never …" Now it was his turn to blush. "Since first year, I spend my life trying to impress Lily, I've never …" He felt the heat of his cheeks increase and hung his head. "I feel like an idiot. I don't know what to do. I've promised Lily not to let her down, and now …"

"… and now you won't!" Tara told him reassuringly. "Don't worry! We will help you, and I've got the perfect thing to start with!" Everybody (well, the boys at least, Rebecca was scribbling random patterns on a piece of parchment) looked at her expectantly. "You know I'm muggle-born, just like Lily, and we've often talked about missing Muggle-sweets. I know", she added quickly, "that wizard's sweets are really cool and all, but when you've loved something during your childhood … its something special!"

"So you think I should get Lily some Muggle-sweets?"

"Not just any Muggle-sweets – her favourite _Christmas_ Muggle-sweets!"

"Well, I see two problems there", remarked Sirius. "One: We don't know what Lily's favourite Christmas Muggle-sweet is, and two, even if we knew, we've got no idea where we could get Muggle-sweets!" He looked at James. "That constructive enough for you, Prongs?"

"Thanks, Padfoot!" James replied dryly. "Dead helpful!"

"And quite wrong, too", Tara smiled proudly, "because I happen to know both!"

James shook his head. "Padfoot was right before: You _are_ amazing!"

"Oh yes, she is …" murmured Remus – and blushed again when he realized how _that_ had sounded. "Stop it!" he snapped at his grinning friends, or tried to, because it's rather hard to snap when your blushing and trying to suppress a grin the same time. "And get your minds out of the gutter!" Tara's smile was far more wicked than any of the boy's; she snuggled up to Remus for a second and whispered something into his ear …

"Wow."

"Yep."

"Never thought a human could master that colour … and survive …"

"Do you think I should go and fetch some ice-cubes and a buck of water, Prongs, old friend? He might set the common-room on fire, if we're not careful!"

"I wonder what she's said to him …"

"So do I, believe me, so do I …"

It took some minutes for Remus to cool down (literally spoken), and he'd blush again when catching anyone's eye, but in the meantime Tara, who had a small satisfied smile playing round the corners of her mouth, told them what she knew: "When Lily was a little girl, her family would go skiing to Austria or Germany during Christmas holiday, and there she got to know _Lebkuchen_ – gingerbread to you." She looked round. "Wizards don't know that, right? Well, it's a special kind of cookie, typical for those countries and for Christmas time, and Lily _loves_ it!"

James' eyes lit up in anticipation, but Sirius asked: "What about the second problem? Where do we get this … _Klebkuchen_?" When James gave him a look, he pretended to be hurt: "Only trying to prove to you that I can be constructive, Prongsie! If you let me! I know, I've never been constructive before, but I've changed! Really! It took me years and years, but finally I realized that I can only be your friend when I learn how to be constructive! So I changed, only for …" But then he couldn't stand it any longer and snorted with laughter, joining Remus, Tara, even Rebecca – and James, who had tried in vain to maintain a stern and straight face. "You're one of a kind, Padfoot!" he said, shaking his head.

"Of a constructive kind, I hope!"

"The second problem isn't one, either", Tara continued, "for I overheard … _someone_ this morning, telling that Honeydukes as a Christmas Special has an assortment of Muggle-sweets. I'm not sure whether …" But James was already gone.

When he returned, half an hour later, he didn't look too happy, although he carried a big box under his arm. "What's going on?" asked Sirius. "Didn't they have any _Klebkuchen_?" Obviously, he was really proud of his newly acquired language skills.

"Run into Sniv … Snape in Hogsmeat", James explained. "Stupid git! He was really enjoying himself making smart-ass comments about Lily rather going out with him than with me!"

"Cursed him into next year, I hope?"

"No! If you will remember, I'm trying to prove to Lily that I can be …"

" … constructive!"

"Will you stop it, Padfoot! Please."

Sirius looked at him. "Why are you in a bad mood, Prongs? If you didn't hex Snivellus and got your _Klebkuchen_ …"

"Problem is, I had to hex him although I didn't want to, because he tried to curse me first, and now Lily will think …"

"Lily is rather smart, mate. She will have realized that Snape is a git, even if she doesn't admit it, and she'll never belive that you would deliberately pick up a fight with him while you are trying to gain her friendship!"

James smiled at him. "Thanks, Padfoot, old friend! That really was …"

"… constructive?"

"Yeah."

"Yes! YES! I did it!" And while Sirius jumped up and down, singing "I can be constructive!" over and over again, James handed the carefully wrapped box (with Father Christmases and little angels) to Tara. "Will you give it to her, please?"

"I'll put it next to her bed, she'll find it." She gave him a look. "How about a note?"

"Brilliant idea!" Tara shook her head, smiling. "You're really hopeless, James!"

"And you want to be careful, Tara!" Sirius warned her, stopping his singing and jumping rather abruptly. "If this is actually going to work and Lily finds out that all the good ideas have been yours, she might just decide to go out with you instead of him! And you would have to choose between Lily and Moony!" Tara laughed, but Sirius turned to Remus, a dreamy expression on the face. "You, on the other hand, would be in the most, _most _enviable situation … just imagine …"

"Stop it, Sirius!"

"But Moony, just _imagine_ …"

"_No!_" Poor Remus – he was blushing again, no matter how valiantly he tried to block out the thoughts and pictures Sirius' allusions were evoking. "And I'd rather you wouldn't, too!"

"Sorry, too late in my case, mate!" Sirius grinned. "And considering how you …" He was interrupted rather suddenly by Remus' face only inches away from his own. "Ah … got a little carried away, didn't I?"

"A little." Remus confirmed through gritted teeth.

"Well, sorry, Moony, won't happen again! Till next time", he added in an undertone.

"You know, Sirius, sometimes I really hate you!" Tara was now looking concerned from one to the other, while James paid no attention – he was occupied with his note and had seen this far too often anyway.

"Ah, don't say that, Moony!" Now Sirius' was flashing his brightest grin. "I know you love me! And that makes me feel all warm and cared for inside!"

Remus only could admit defeat. It was impossible to be angry at Sirius when he was behaving like this.

"Here." James handed Tara the box, which had a note attached now. He watched her climbing up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, then turned round to face his friends. "Do you think it's going to work?" he asked them nervously.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

"Do you think it's going to work?" James had asked, and they didn't have to wait long for an answer. Only minutes after Tara had put the box with the _Lebkuchen_ next to Lily's bed, quick footsteps came running down the stairs. James hopefully looked round and rose from his chair – only just in time to catch Lily, who flung herself at him, threw her arms round his neck and kissed him full on the mouth!

Remus, Sirius, Tara and Rebecca stared at he scene in disbelieve. That was … But before any of them had recovered from the shock, Lily had let go of James, grabbed his hand and pulled him with her out of the portrait-hole, and James, looking as if he had been confounded, followed her without a backward glance. Then they were gone. And for a couple of minutes there was a complete silence in the Gryffindor common-room.

"What the hell …"

"Wow!"

"Well, that was …"

"Never thought I'd see …"

All four of them spoke at the same time. They looked at each other as if they wanted to be sure the others had seen it, too. Same confused expression on all four faces …

"Pinch me, I must be dreaming", said Remus, shaking his head. "That – ouch!" He glared at Sirius, who grinned back. "Never knew you dreamed about Prongs and Lily kissing, Moony!"

"Well, I knew my idea was good, but I didn't think it would work out so well", Tara murmured. "Especially not that quickly!"

"I always knew they were meant to be", declared Sirius, which statement earned him a snort from Remus. "What? I did!"

"Padfoot, I've lost my count on how often you told James to forget Lily and move on some time back in third year, and it was quite an impressive figure then. If I remember rightly, you once told him there was a greater chance of you being made head-boy than him having a date with Lily!"

"I'm not proved wrong yet", Sirius demanded. "I still might become head-boy (who knows what Dumbledore will do), and they haven't had a date yet – as far as I know, they're just snogging in some empty classroom, and that doesn't count as a date!"

"Yes, you would know."

"Certainly I would."

"Hey!" This was Rebecca, and her voice was sharp, tense. The others looked at her and found her frowning.

"What is it, honey?" Sirius asked.

She stared at him. "What? Don't you think it is a little strange that Lily should go from hating to dating in an instant?"

"Well, it seems to be a little strange, I suppose", Sirius admitted, grabbing her round the waist. "But I've seen stranger things …"

"And you know quite well that Lily has stopped really hating him some time ago", continued Tara. "She was just too proud and to stubborn to admit it!"

But Rebecca pushed Sirius' hands away, evidently not satisfied with his reaction. "_I _think there's something hinky going on!" And with this, she made her way to the girl's dormitories.

"What are you doing?" Sirius called after her.

"Checking something!"

He shrugged. "Well, I think …" But they never found out what he actually thought, because in this moment the portrait-hole opened and Sirius stopped in mid-sentence. James Potter was standing there, carrying an unconscious Lily on his arms. He looked shocked, almost scared, definitely confused, and his clothes were more than a little disheveled – as were Lily's!

"Oi, Padfoot, give me a hand! We have to lay her down!"

That shook them all out of their paralysis and they rushed forward to help. Sirius and Remus took Lily, who was indeed unconscious and completely limp, and laid her on one of the sofas, while Tara helped James through the portrait-hole. He was trembling.

"What … James, what happened?"

But again they were interrupted, this time by a furious cry. "YOU!" Rebecca was running down the stairs at James, glaring draggers at him, in her hand the open box with the _Lebkuchen_. "YOU!" She was shouting now. "You spiked her sweets with love-potion! Amortentia! That's why she started kissing you, and …" She noticed the state of James' and Lily's clothes and stopped dead in her tracks, looking horrified. "You bastard! You pervert! What have you done to her?"

James was far too shocked by her accusations to say anything, he just stared. But Sirius, who had been busy helping Remus to cover Lily with a blanket, slowly turned round to face his girlfriend. "What did you say?" he asked in a level voice. His face had paled, his eyes were burning … Now he advanced her until their faces were only about an inch apart; it was quite menacing. "_What_ did you just say to him?"

Rebecca didn't seem to notice. "Look at the state she's in!" she shouted. "It's obvious what he has done!"

"HOW DARE YOU!" Sirius roared, making everybody jump. "How dare you accusing him of …" He looked livid, and for a moment Remus feared he might lose control. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Sirius, calm down."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? I will NOT calm down! Didn't you hear, what she … don't you understand?"

"I do, believe me! But I'm sure Rebecca doesn't mean …"

"O yes I do! Don't you see, Remus? He has …"

_Bang!_ Sirius had hit the table with a fist, cutting Rebecca off. He was breathing heavily. "Get out." he said, not looking at her.

"What?"

"Get out."

"And if I don't?" Rebecca snapped. "What are you gonna do? Hit me instead of the table?" That, of course, was the completely wrong thing to say.

"I DON'T HIT GIRLS!" Now Sirius was beside himself. "Is that what you think of me – of us? James slipping love-potion to Lily and taking advantage of her, and me hitting girls? Do you think this is Slytherin?" He looked at her with disgust. "You sure think like one – got placed into the wrong house in my opinion!" He drew his wand, and Rebecca instinctively stepped back. "Now get out, or I swear I'll make you!" She stared at him, then looked at the others. James was kneeling next to Lily, holding her hand, and Tara's and Remus' expressions showed a mixture of shock, anger, disbelieve, and sympathy. None of them spoke. "Sirius …"

He had already turned away. "Get out." He repeated. "We're through."

Tears were now glistering in Rebecca's eyes. "Sirius, please …" But he ignored her. And so she turned and left the common-room, crying silently.

"Padfoot, don't you think …" Remus began, but Sirius interrupted him. "Leave it, Moony. We've more important things to do!"

"You're right. What happened, James?"

James, still kneeling next to Lily, looked up. "Lily, she … she took me to the next empty classroom and started kissing me …" He blushed. "Really, you know, with tongue and everything …Then she told me she loved me, and …" He hesitated, evidently embarrassed. "She … tried to undress me, she began to unbutton … you know …" He gestured helplessly, confused.

"Oh, my god!" breathed Tara. "And what did you do?" Sirius looked at her sharply, but it was clear that she did not think along the lines Rebecca had, so he focused on his friend again.

"Well, I … I enjoyed it at first", James admitted, "although it seemed strange. But I pretty quick got really uncomfortable, so I asked her to … to slow down a bit, but she wouldn't listen. I realized that something was wrong and tried to tell her, but …" He looked at his friends. "I stunned her."

"You did _what_?"

"I didn't know what else to do! Everything I could have done would have hurt her!"

"Have you tried to wake her up?" asked Remus. James shook his head. "No – didn't wanna risk it."

Remus pointed his wand at Lily. "_Enervate_." Nothing happened. He tried again. "_Enervate_." Lily still didn't wake up. "You did use 'Stupefy', right?"

"Of course I did!" Now James tried the spell – nothing. "What's going on?" he asked, a hint of panic in his voice. "Why won't she wake up?"

"We have to take her to the hospital wing", Tara said. "Madame Pomfrey will know what to do – or one of the teachers!"

"No!" They all looked at James in surprise. "We can't tell the teachers!"

"But … we have to!"

"No! Please don't!" He looked at them, tears in his eyes. "Everybody will think that I slipped Lily the love-potion, that I tried to …" He couldn't say it.

"Rubbish!" said Remus defiantly. "Nobody in their right mind would ever think that you would do something that horrible!"

"Yeah", Sirius remarked bitterly, "as demonstrated two minutes ago!" He looked at Remus. "And _she_ was supposed to be our friend, to know us! If somebody like her, a fellow Gryffindor thinks James would be capable …"

"But that's ridiculous!" Remus insisted. "Everybody knows James loves Lily! They must realize he would never …"

"No they don't." James voice was heavy with worry, sadness and resignation. "Nobody outside this room actually believes I do love her. Do you think I don't know what they say? They think I'm just making fun of her by asking her out … or that it's for the chase or whatever. Nobody except you and Padfoot have ever even considered I might be seriously in love." He closed his eyes. "And everybody knows we've had this terrible fight … they'll think that I, having no chance to get a date any more, slipped her love-potion to …it looks completely plausible, from their point of view."

"But Dumbledore would never believe …"

"Moony, please. I … I just couldn't stand it." James was pleading now.

"Okay." Remus gave in. "I don't think Lily is in any immediate danger …"

"But why doesn't she wake up?"

"I don't know, Prongs … let me think about it …"

For a quarter of an hour nobody spoke. Then Remus looked at his girlfriend. "Tara …" he said slowly. "What do you know about cross-magical interaction?"

She just stared at him for a second. "Remus, you are brilliant!"

"What are you talking about, Moony?" James wanted to know.

"It's something I've read about", Remus told him, "a phenomenon that occurs when different branches of magic interact in a certain way – like Charms and Potions. If Lily was under the influence of Amortentia when your stunning-spell hit her, it might explain why we can't undo the effect."

Sirius had picked up the box Rebecca had dropped earlier, taken out one piece of _Lebkuchen_ and was now smelling at it. "It's Amortentia all right", he told them. "I can smell …" But then he fell silent and only repeated: "It's definitely Amortentia."

"Let's suppose you're right about this …interaction-thing", James asked, "what can we do? How can we wake her?"

"I'm not sure, James." Remus pulled a face. "I'm hopeless at Potions, damn it! We would need someone who was good at Charms _and_ Potions, to be able to explain both sides!" He hesitated. "Someone like …"

"… Lily."

"Yes."

But Tara stood up. "You might be hopeless at Potions, Remus, but I'm not – in fact, I'm second only to Lily, and you are very good at Charms! Let's go to the library and do some research!" She turned to James. "We will find a way! I promise!"

"Thank you!"

"I'm coming, too." That surprised everybody, for Sirius was famous for evading the library like plague. "I _am_ capable of reading, you know", he growled, "and a third set of eyes could prove helpful!" He looked at his best friend. "You stay here, Prongs, with Lily. We will find a way to help her! You can count on us!"

James managed a smile. "I know. And .. thank you!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The others were only gone a couple of minutes when James took out his two-way-mirror. „Padfoot." Sirius' face appeared. „What is it, Prongs?"

„Bring the books here, will you? I can't stand to do nothing, but I don't want to leave Lily."

„Got it! Just give us some time to find the right ones!"

Some time later, Tara, Remus and Sirius returned to the common room, each of them carrying a number of books, which they put down on a table in three piles. „Okay", Remus explained, „Pile # 1 covers Advanced Charms, # 2 Advanced Potions and # 3 consists of books especially related to cross-magical interaction, which is highly advanced by definition. I'm not sure whether our special case – being stunned while under the influence of Amortentia – is to be found somewhere in there, but I hope so. If not …"

„Let's worry about that later and just hope we're going to find a solution." Sirius grabbed a book called _Advanced Theory of Defense-Charms_, while Remus took _Introduction to the Concept of Cross-Magical Interaction. Volume One: Theoretical Foundations_. Tara turned to the Potions-pile, and James chose _Experimental Magic. To Boldly Go Where No Wizard Has Gone Before_. It was a stupid title, he thought, but kept the book nonetheless … one never knew …

For the next two hours, nobody spoke, the only sounds were that of pages being turned. They were so deeply focused on their reading they didn't even notice the evening falling in and the common room darken – not until somebody lit the fire and the chandeliers. Looking up, they saw Rebecca standing next to the portrait-hole. "I thought … maybe … you could need some help …"

Everybody looked at Sirius, who completely refused to acknowledge her presence, but continued reading. So James nodded curtly. "We're trying to …" But Rebecca cut him of. "I know. I've checked the list of books taken out of the library and figured it out by myself." Another nod. "Listen, James, I'm really sorry about …"

"Tell me when Lily is awake. I've no time for your apologies now."

Rebecca looked ad him sadly, then turned to Sirius. Tara tried to stop her by shaking her head (this was not the moment to apologize to him, either), but she didn't see. "Sirius …"

"I don't care."

The black girl flinched as if he had yelled at her, and Tara couldn't blame her. If she imagined Remus to speak to her like this, in such a cold and indifferent voice … She gave her a small and hopefully consoling smile and pointed at the three piles. "Charms, Potions and Interaction." Rebecca nodded, took a Potions book (any book, in fact, she didn't even look at the cover) and sat down – not with them, but in a little distance.

About one and a half hours later, Tara let out a sudden gasp. Five heads turned. "Did you find something?" James asked hopefully.

"Maybe …" Her blue eyes scanned the page with such speed what Sirius was afraid to get seasick just by looking at her rapid eye movement. "Yes, it definitely is something. Listen to this: _When a person under the influence of Amortentia is hit by a Stunning spell, this in some cases may lead to an prolonged state of deep unconsciousness, which is impossible to undo by magical means …_"

"No!" James sounded close to tears, but Tara shook her head an continued reading:

"…_for this is more of a psychologically than a magically inflicted effect. It is caused by the emotional shock of being attacked by someone the person in question is convinced to love. The stunned person is not in danger and will simply wake up when the shock wears off, which may take two too four days. However, it is a special effect of this particular interaction, that …_"

"Why don't you go on?" asked Remus, but Tara didn't seem to hear him. She read the next paragraph, and suddenly her eyes widened.

"Darling?" Remus was concerned now.

"What? Oh, that's all – which is important for us, that is." She closed the book and turned to James – who had been strangely quiet. No whoops of joy and relief … He was sitting there, his face buried in his hands, shoulders shaking. Sirius hugged him roughly. "She's gonna be okay, Prongs! Everything is gonna be alright!"

"Yeah …" He looked up, and a huge smile appeared on his face. "Thank God!" He turned to Tara. "No, thank you!" He got up and hugged her tightly. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome", Tara laughed. "But I'd like to keep my ribs, please …"

"Sorry!" He let go of her quickly, stepped back and looked at her, suddenly serious. "I meant what I said before, you know. I owe you – and I don't forget. If you ever need anything from me, anything at all, just ask." His eyes moved to Remus, then to Sirius, who both nodded. "This is part of the Marauders' Pact. Though you can't become a real Marauder, you're one of us now." He grinned … for the first time since his fight with Lily, it seemed. "You got to face it, Tara: You're not only stuck with Remus, but with all of us from now on!"

"Oh, I think I'll manage", she replied dryly.

"I don't doubt it at all."

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a strange rumbling noise – which came from Sirius' stomach. James' grin broadened, and Remus chuckled silently. "Hungry, Padfoot?"

Sirius nodded, looking almost surprised. "Now that you mention it …"

"Let's get some food!" Tara took Remus' hand. "You can show me how to get into the kitchens!"

"You've never been in the kitchens?"

James looked at Sirius. "Why don't you help them carry all the good things?"

"Prongs, I think they're perfectly able to …" A pointed look from Remus made him catch on. "Oh … okay, I think maybe they could use some help, and I could use the exercise, for I'm not used to just sit and read, not for more than five minutes anyway …and it may take some time, you know, as it's after hours and we have to be careful …"

Remus shot him another look. " What?"

"You're rambling. Shut up and get going."

"I'm coming, too." But Sirius was already halfway out before Rebecca had even put down her book. Remus, however, hung back a little. "I'll catch up with you in a second", he told Tara, who shot him a questioning look, but followed Sirius and Rebecca. Moony picked up the book his girlfriend had read earlier and flipped through the pages. It took him only a couple of seconds to find the passage he was looking for, and suddenly he began to smile. He closed the book and looked at James, who hadn't noticed a thing; he was sitting next to Lily, holding her hand. Quietly, Remus left the common room.

For some time, James just looked down at Lily's face. She was so beautiful! Her eyes were closed, of course, her wonderful emerald eyes, but still … there were six or eight tiny freckles on the back of her nose … and there was her little birthmark on her upper lip, a little more on the right … It seemed to him that she looked pale, but maybe that was just the light, or the contrast between her bright skin in her dark red hair … With a fingertip he carefully brushed a fiery strand out of her face. Merlin, he loved her hair … the way it would shine in ever different shades of red, depending on the light, from a dark, deep red that bordered brown to a bright, burning color close to orange … sometimes it seemed to him it changed according to her mood … and when she shouted at him because of some stupid pick-up line … he smiled. She really was a redhead! No wonder everybody would seek cover when she started yelling at him … but he, he loved it. Because he would see the fire in her eyes, would see her passion … at least she would look at him properly then. And standing in the blaze of her fury would warm him, in a strange way … it was far better than the indifference she would show sometimes … yeah, he would choose her angry stare over her cold and distant look any day. There at least was some feeling in her eyes then, directed at him, and he … he had something to dream about … "D'you know what I see when I dream about you, Lily? I see your eyes. I see you looking at me, not distant, or angry, or furious, but friendly, caring … I see love in your eyes, Lily! And it's terrible, you know, because … because then I wake up and I'm alone, and I realize that it was a dream, and that tomorrow you're going to yell at me again … And I … I have to act as if I didn't care, you know, because what else can I do? There's not much of my pride left anyway!"

He draw a long, unsteady breath, and his voice trembled a little. "Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and found yourself crying? Crying because one moment ago you felt completely and utterly happy, for in your dream all your wishes had come true? And then you can't stop crying, because … because you realize that it will never be more than that – never be more than a dream? It happens to me sometimes, you know … nobody knows, at least I hope not, I'd die of shame …" He sighted. "Sirius and Remus do, of course, I woke them up one night when I couldn't bear it any longer …but I don't mind _them_ to know, they're my friends, they helped me through that night, and through the ones that followed, I could not have made it without them. I'm not sure if Peter knows, he was in the hospital-wing the first night, and he sleeps like a rock …I dread this dreams, Lily, I really do, because I hate being weak, or vulnerable, but I'm both when it comes to you. But I'm looking forward to them all the same, do you know why? Because there's one second when I've just woken up, when the pictures, the feelings, the smells of the dream are still real to me, although I know I'm awake … this fleeting moments are worth all the pain, because only they give me an impression how it would be – to be with you."

"I'm sorry, James."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

„I'm sorry, James."

„So am I", said James quietly, „so ..." He looked up, shocked and speechless – and met Lily's eyes. She was awake! „You are awake! Oh, thank God, Lily, you are awake!" He fought back the urge to hug her and just repeated: „I'm so glad that you're awake!"

„I'm, too, James."

Suddenly James realized something. „Did you hear ... how long have you been ... how much did you ..?"

Lily tried to get up into a sitting position, and he supported her. „Enough", she answered simply.

He buried his face in his hands, his neck an his ears were scarlet. „Oh, no!" he groaned. „I _am_ gonna die of shame!"

Lily chuckled. „I'd prefer you didn't. And there's no need to. I've heard nothing you would have to be ashamed of."

„Have you not?"

„No. Quite the opposite."

There was a rather awkward silence. Then James opened his mouth, but Lily cut him off. "I know. I know you're sorry, and I know a lot more …" She looked him straight in the eyes, blushing faintly. "James, I … I've heard everything! I …"

"And you pretended to be unconscious?" he burst out. "Do you know how worried I … how worried we all have been?"

"Yes, I do! And that's not what I meant. Ever since you spell hit me, I've been paralyzed, I couldn't move a muscle – but I was awake all the same! Maybe this has something to do with Remus' interaction-thing … my eyes were closed, so I couldn't see anything, and I was kind of trapped inside my body – it was really scary for some time, you know –, but I've heard everything, from the moment you picked my up back in that class-room."

"Oh." That was all James could think of. He tried to process this information, but his mind didn't seem to work too well. When he lifted his gaze from his toes, he saw Lily look at him with a strange expression on her face: It was as if she tried to look directly into his soul. He found both intensity and uncertainty in her eyes, and something like a question …

Lily was biting her lip, unsure what to say or to do. The things she had heard during the past hours had completely changed her picture of James Potter … well, no, that wasn't quite right: If she was completely honest with herself, they had only confirmed what she had suspected for some time now, but had denied to believe. There was one question, however … "James?"

"Mhm?"

"There's one thing I'd really like to know … something I don't understand …"

A small grin appeared on his face. "Shoot."

Lily draw a deep breath, opened her mouth – and closed it again. _Damn, this is difficult!_ "I …"

Now he smiled openly. "Lily, if you've been awake the whole time, you know things about me no one but Sirius and Remus know. Your question can't possibly go deeper than that. And even if it does …" He shrugged. "Just ask!"

"Why … why didn't you give up on me?" Once these words were out, it was a lot easier. "Why didn't you just – move on? After all the things I've done to you … all the things I called you … all these times I turned you down! You … James, with your looks, your brains, your popularity, you could've had any girl in Hogwarts! Why …" she stopped, embarrassed about what she had said. Yet, it was the truth – and it was a question that had bothered her for some time now … she just didn't get it!

James looked at her, shaking his head in disbelieve. "Do you really have to ask that?" She nodded. "I … I doubt you could even guess how many times Sirius told me to move on, to get over you, to find myself another girl. And I tried … once. But … I couldn't. Its as simple as that. Every girl I look at, I compare to you – and that's it, then. No matter how beautiful or sexy or seductive she may be, to me it's like looking at a statue … dead beauty. You're different, Lily! You are …" He looked at her with such intensity it made her shiver. "I don't want any other girls, and I never have! You mean the world to me, Lily, and it has always been like this!" He hesitated. "Well, not always … it may have been a crush at the beginning, but it changed, and since then ..." He looked thoughtful. "I think it was in fourth year when I realized that my … feelings for you were different from … from how others felt for their 'girlfriends' … you know what I mean: getting together and breaking up twice a week without more thought or pain than a few quickly forgotten tears – I realized that was impossible for me – and it scared me! I was afraid – and the only way I could handle all these new feelings was …"

"… to act like an annoying git?" He looked at her quickly and was relieved to see her smile.

"Yeah, you could put it that way. I wanted you to notice me, wanted to impress you, and it took me years to realize that I would get nowhere if I didn't change my approach – which Moony of course had told me from the beginning!" He smiled reminiscently … until his expression changed to sadness. "So I tried that … but …" He fell silent.

"I did notice, James." There was sadness in her voice, but also a sincerity he couldn't doubt. "Believe me, I really did! But …" She hesitated. "Go on."

"There is nothing more to say, Lily. I haven't given up on you because I couldn't – I can't! I don't think I will ever be able to give up on you … I will always …"

"Will always what, James?"

"Do you really have to ask that?"

She took his hand into hers. "No", she whispered. "I know … I've known for some time now, I think. And I …" She closed her eyes for a moment. "If you would ask me out now, I would not turn you down …" He made an involuntary movement. "…but could you … James, could you _not_ do it – not just now", she added hastily, when she felt him stiffen.

"Why not, Lily?" Again, all hope and joy seemed to have left him, and the pain audible in his quiet voice cut through Lily like knife. "Why do you reject me again – now?" He looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Why?"

"I don't, James!" Lily was close to tears, too. "It's just … I need some time to … everything has changed today, everything is new, I'm confused, and I have to …" She didn't know how to put her confusion into words.

"You're not sure of your feelings for me?"

"No … yes … no …" Lily groaned in despair and hung her head. "James, I like you very much, and I want to be your girlfriend, but … and I'm sure about that, but … I want to be _sure_ that I'm sure! Does that make any sense?" She looked up. James was smiling like she'd never seen him smile, happiness simply radiated from him, and if she'd had any doubts, his reaction would have dispelled them completely. She couldn't help but smile herself, and felt herself blushing the same time, for the love that shone from his eyes was just … _How could I possibly miss it before?_

She half expected him to kiss her – and secretly was a little disappointed that he didn't, but simply squeezed her hand. "It makes sense to me, Lily", he answered her question. "You now stand where I stood in fourth year – at least I hope you do. It's frightening, and you don't want to rush things …"

"Yes …" She looked in his eyes. "I'm not used to feel this way, James", she admitted quietly, "and it scares me. But what scares me even more is the thought that … that I could do something wrong, now I've at last realized my feelings, and maybe damage or destroy something that's just beginning to develop between us … something really precious …"

James smiled at her. "You don't have to be afraid, Lily", he said. "You won't damage anything, and you couldn't do anything 'wrong'. You pushed me away the last years, remember? And yet, here we are. And I'm not going anywhere!"

"So … you'll wait for me? Not for long, I promise, just …"

He gently put a finger on her lips. "I've waited a long time without much hope, Lily", he whispered into her ear. "Now, that I have hope, why should I care to wait a little longer? You take the time you need – I'm not going anywhere!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 

When Sirius, Remus, Tara and Rebecca returned to the common room with enormous amounts of food, they were greeted by an unexpected sight: Lily Evans and James Potter were sitting peacefully in two armchairs next to the fire, talking quietly to each other. Sirius stopped dead, mouth agape, and almost dropped his wand – which would have caused most of the food to crush down on the floor, for he was using a hovering charm. Rebecca stared – but neither Remus nor Tara didn't seemed surprised. The blond girl just walked over and hugged her friend. „Good to have you back again, Lily!"

„Good to be back!" Lily answered. „Thank you, Tara!"

„You're welcome", Tara said simply. Lily nodded, turned to Remus and Sirius – and turned back rather suddenly. „What do you mean by that, Tara? Wait a minute ... How do you even know what I want to thank you for?"

Tara just smiled. It was Remus, who said casually: „I think, I can answer that." He picked up the book Tara had read earlier, opened it, gave his surprised girlfriend a wink und read: „_The stunned person is not in danger and will simply wake up when the shock wears off, which may take two too four days. However, it is a special effect of this particular interaction, that, although the stunned person seems to be unconscious, he or she is completely aware of the surrounding environment and able to hear, smell or feel everything, only the ability to move is suppressed._"

„You knew it?" James asked Tara astounded. „Why didn't you tell me?"

„I think I can answer that, too", said Remus, still smiling. „There's more, listen: _As the paralysis is caused by an emotional shock, it is, as stated above, impossible to cure it with a spell or a potion. However, there are recorded several cases, in which an equally strong feeling of a (so to speak) ‚positive' emotion – such as, for example, gratitude, friendship, affection and especially love – has caused the almost immediate awaking of the stunned person._" He closed the book. Lily buried her face in her hands, and James, just like everyone else, stared at Tara. „I ... I don't get it."

Sirius shook his head. „Poor Prongs", he said, signing. „Brains are shut down at the moment, I suppose, due to complete lack of blood – certainly it's all rushed to his ... heart." He grinned.

Then something completely surprising happened: Lily rose from her chair and faced Sirius. But instead of yelling at him for being an insensitive and sexist prat (or something like that), as everyone expected (especially Sirius himself), she hugged him tightly. „Thank you, Padfoot", she whispered, so quietly nobody else would hear. „You really are a great friend."

Sirius was just as surprised as everyone else, but he recovered quickly and returned the hug. „Thank you, Lily", he answered, just as quietly. „This means a lot." Louder he said: „I'm glad you're okay, Lily!" One arm still round Lily's shoulders, he turned his head and looked at his friend. „Very huggable girlfriend you have here, Prongs!"

James rolled his eyes, but he smiled nonetheless. „Lily isn't my girlfriend – yet. But still: You better not start to like hugging her too much. And ‚huggable' isn't even a word!"

Before Sirius could answer, Tara asked: „What do you mean, she's not your girlfriend?" She looked at her best friend sternly. „Don't tell me you turned the poor boy down again!"

Lily blushed. „No, I didn't. But we've decided to ... take things slow."

Sirius grin broadened. „Normally it's only _after_ the start of a relationship that issue comes up", he winked at her, „and not before." She punched him playfully in the stomach. „Ouch!"

„Good", Tara said, clearly satisfied with Lily's answer. „I would have hated to do all the work for naught." Everybody looked at her. „What do you mean?" asked James.

„Really, Prongs!" This time it was Remus who spoke. „Do you _have to_ proof Padfoot right? Use your head!" He stepped next to Tara and laid his arm around her. „Didn't you notice that Tara was playing matchmaker right from the beginning?" He began to count the points off. „Tara told you to apologize by letter ... Tara taught you the spell to check whether Lily would read your letter or not ...Tara slipped Lily the note that _told_ her about the spell ..."

„What?" James stared. „You told her? Why?"

„... to get you two to talk to each other again ... Tara told you about Lily's preference for _Lebkuchen_, and she knew where you could get some ..." He beamed at his girlfriend. „You really are brilliant, Tara! And when you read this passage, you realized instantly what it meant: If Lily had heard everything going on here, she would have realized what kind of person James really was, she would have gotten to know the true James Potter only very few people know. That's why you didn't tell us Lily was conscious of her surrounding – and then, when there was the opportunity, you made us leave, because you _knew_, that left alone, James would most likely pour out his heart to Lily (who of course _he _thought couldn't hear him), which would lead to two things: Lily would wake up, due to her strong feeling of love and affection for James, and for the same reason the both would (at last!) get together!" Remus, quiet and controlled Remus Lupin, had become more and more enthusiastic with every word – and now, in the very second he was finished, he swept Tara off her feet and kissed her! And Tara, though caught by surprise, threw her arms round his neck and responded with equal passion and enthusiasm.

Sirius whistled, and James and Lily glanced at each other – and blushed when they noticed the other one looking, but smiled nonetheless. The same (only in a far greater extent) was true of course for Tara and Remus, once they let go of each other. None of them had ever before looked that happy.

"Wow, Remus", Sirius teased, "you sure seem to have put a lot of practice in refining your technique – well done, mate! Keep that up, and you'll eventually come close to my degree of perfection … one day …"

"Now that's something to look forward to", Remus replied dryly. "But I doubt that I'll catch on – you've had too much of a head start!"

"I don't think I'm gonna get a lot of practice these days", Sirius stated bluntly, "so you've got your chance."

Everybody (except Sirius himself) looked at Rebecca, who hadn't uttered a single word since her return to the common room. Now she stepped forward, but instead of Sirius, she addressed James and Lily. "Look, I'm really, _really_ sorry about how I reacted – what I said …I kind of panicked when I saw you like that, Lily! But I … I should have known that James would never do … something like that …"

"That you should have known", James agreed, and Lily nodded. "Rebecca, I just don't get it! We've known each other for almost six years now, we've attended classes together, I helped you prepare for your OLW's in transfiguration last year, remember? You watched me play Quidditch, and we've celebrated Gryffindors victories together … We live together, we're both Gryffindors, and I thought we were friends – not that close, but friends!" He shook his head. "How could you possibly think … "

"I didn't think at all! I simply … panicked." She looked at him. "James, please … are we still friends?"

There was a pause. Then James said: "You hurt me, Rebecca, and I think a friend wouldn't act like you did …" He sighted. "But on the other hand the looks stood against me, so … we have to start new, in a way …"

The tall black girl nodded and looked at Lily. "Everything all right between us?" she asked uncertainly.

Lily hesitated a second, then stood up and hugged her. "Yes, it is. You're my friend, and I know you tried to protect me – although I whish you would have done it differently!"

"So do I, believe me! I'm so glad that you're okay, Lily!"

"You know, Tara", Sirius told the blonde girl rather loudly, "I'm glad you're one of us now! I wouldn't want somebody as an enemy who is as smart as you … quite a clever plot you have been hatching there! And it worked, too! How comes you never put those brains of yours to good use?"

"And what would you call 'good use', Sirius? Planning pranks?"

"What else? Even Moony likes it, although he generally doesn't like to talk about it."

Tara smiled at Remus. "That true?"

He smiled back. "What do you think?"

"Oh, I think it could be fun …"

Remus groaned. "Look what you've done!" he accused Sirius. "She has been Honorary Marauder less than one hour and you've already corrupted her to your evil ways!"

Sirius flashed a 'mad genius' sort of grin. "That's what I do: contaminating the world with my blackness!" He started to laugh like a maniac, but Lily interrupted him. "Well done, Dr. Evil, but I'd like you to destroy the world after we've eaten, I'm starving!"

He gave her a mock salute. "Yes, Ma'am!"

After they had finished eating they were sitting in a semi-circle in front of the fireplace: Sirius (who had eaten so much he could barely move), Remus and Tara, James and Lily and Rebecca. After some time Tara asked Remus: "How did you know what I had read – about Lily being conscious and everything?

"I checked it when I hung back."

She looked at him in surprise. "Why?"

"It was obvious that there was something else – something you had kept to yourself. I saw how your eyes continued to move along the lines after you had stopped reading aloud, and then your face showed surprise and satisfaction …" He chuckled. "_Don't believe what you're told – double check!_"

"Come again?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just a rule Michael Harmon from Ravenclaw told me – apparently from some Muggle TV-show. One of its main characters, an investigator, has this set of rules, and this is one of them … # 3, I think: 'Don't believe what you're told – double check.' I remembered it, because I think it's sensible – and useful! And so I checked, and I found the paragraphs you didn't read out loud …"

"So you don't believe what I tell you?" Tara asked sweetly.

"Ah, you know … it's more of a principal thing …"

James laughed, for Remus suddenly seemed to feel quite uncomfortable. "Relax, Moony, dear Tara is pulling your leg." He looked at Sirius. "You know, I don't think you needed to corrupt her. She seems to have a natural talent!"

"Just what I think, Prongs. And that's a dangerous combination! Me, I _do_ look like a combination of evil genius and stunningly handsome sex-god", multiple snorts were to be heard, but they didn't bother him the slightest, "so people at least get a warning, but look at her: All blond curls and cute face and those big, blue, innocent-looking puppy-dog eyes – and what's behind? A sly and plotting mastermind!" He pretended to shudder. "Evil, I say! Mark my words! Evil!"

They all laughed, and Remus whispered something about "my little evil genius" into Tara's ear. But then he suddenly became serious. "You know, I must say I'm surprised that no one of you has yet thought about one crucial point in everything that happened today; about the one question that leads right to the center of the events …" He made a pause, everybody was looking a him. "Well, since we know that James of course did _not_ spike Lily's _Lebkuchen_ with _Amortentia_ …"

"Yeah, who in his right mind would think that?" Sirius murmured audibly.

"… the question is: Who the hell did?"


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Sorry it took some time for me to update, but now you get two chapters at once – I hope you like them! If so, please tell me – and if not, tell me nonetheless! ******

Chapter 10

"You're right, Moony", James admitted, "I haven't thought about this at all!"

"Nor have I", said Lily, surprised. "But you obviously have, Remus."

Remus nodded. "I've had time enough down in the kitchens, and I think I know who is behind it. But I'm not sure, so I won't just say a name, but tell you my observations and conclusions … I want to know if you come to the same result as I did", he explained when he noticed his friends' puzzled expressions.

"I think it's pretty obvious, Moony!" Sirius stated confidently. "But if you want to show off your brains to impress Tara, it's fine with me!"

Remus glared at him. "This has nothing to do with … I just don't want to accuse …" He fell silent when he saw everybody smile at him knowingly, and felt himself blush – again. _Sometimes Sirius is far to bloody observant! _"Well, who do you think did it?" he asked, a little snappish. Sirius bend closer and whispered a name into his ear. Remus looked at him in, surprised, and Sirius' expression became very smug. "Didn't think you were the only one with brains round here, eh, Sherlock?" which caused Remus blush to deepen, especially when Lily and Tara (who, as you may remember, are both Muggle-borns), started to giggle. James, on the other hand, looked confused. "Why d'you call him Sherlock, Pads?"

It was Lily who answered. "He's referring to a figure in Muggle detective-stories, a fictitious detective called Sherlock Holmes", she explained, "because this is the typical situation at the end of every case: Holmes presents the solution to his clueless friend and side-kick Dr. Watson, and explains how he found it." She looked at Sirius. "How do you know Conan Doyle? That is Muggle-fiction … I didn't even know you read at all!"

He pretended to be hurt. "Oh, Lily, how can you say that? After I read this big volume to find a way and save you!" He grinned at her. "It was yet another way to annoy my parents", he told her. "I'd go to a public library and take out books what had nothing to do with magic or purity of blood – shocking, isn't it? One of the first was, by chance, _A Study in Scarlet_, and … well, I liked it!"

Lily looked at him thoughtful. "You're full of surprises, you know?"

Sirius winked and then asked: "So James is the only one who doesn't know Sherlock Holmes?" He somehow failed to notice Rebecca and continued. "Well, I think we should help you to get the right impression, Prongs." With a flick of his wand, he conjured a huge pipe and a typical Sherlock-Holmes-cap out of thin air and, in spite of his protests, stuffed the cap onto his friends head and almost knocked his teeth out with the pipe. "Don't argue, Moony!" he ordered. "_You_ wanted to play Sherlock Holmes, and I'm just helping you to get the right feeling!"

"This certainly is _not_ the right feeling!" Remus complained weakly. "I feel completely ridiculous!"

"Oh no, you're not!" Sirius assured him – not very convincing, considering the fact that both Lily and Tara were laughing so hard they could barely breath. "Damn! I whish Wormtail was here – he'd be the perfect Dr. Watson! Everybody present is way to clever for this role!"

"Don't be mean, Padfoot"; Remus reprimanded him.

"I'm not – it's called being honest. But I think I'll play the role of Watson, then!" With another flick of his wand he gave himself a ridiculously large moustache, which sight sent Lily and Tara into yet another fit of laughter.

"Well, Holmes", Sirius began, "I have to admit that I've no idea who might be behind it all. I've seen and heard everything you saw and heard, and still …"

Remus hesitated for a second, then decided to play along. "My dear Watson", he held forth, "you repeat your old mistake: You hear, but don't listen – you see, but don't observe! Let me give you an example: You know the staircase that leads to the dormitories?"

"Of course I do!"

"How often have you used it, what do you think?"

Sirius gave him a strange look. "Thousands of times!"

"Well then: How many steps has it?"

Now Sirius really stared at him as if he doubted his sanity. "I've no idea."

"That's because you've just looked at it. I, who has observed, know that it contains of 17 steps." He had barely finished his sentence when Sirius leaped out of his chair. Remus leaned back, pulled on his pipe, and now his expression became more smug with every second that passed. When Sirius returned, he was shaking his head. "Sometimes you really scare me, Moony!" Remus smiled, but James asked impatiently: "Can we get back to the case now, _Sherlock_?"

"Of course. First thing we must ask ourselves: What was the motif behind the plan? What was the intention of our culprit?"

"To hurt Lily, obviously!" James blurred out, but Remus shook his head – as did Sirius, who temporarily seemed to have forgotten that he was supposed to be clueless. "Do you really think so? Well, let's imagine for one second that everything had happened as intended by our Mr. X: Lily ate the spiked _Lebkuchen_, dragged you to the next empty classroom, tried to seduce you – and you _didn't_refuse …"

Lily gasped, and paled in an instant. James looked at her, concerned. "You all right?"

"No." She was trembling now, and tears were flowing down her face. "I … I …"

"Lily!" Now James was seriously scared. "What …" But Lily was crying freely now, so he just held her close and tried to calm her. "It's all right, Lily … everything's okay … shhh …"

"I never …" As she spoke into James' shoulder, her voice was muffled, but he understood her nonetheless. "I … we spoke about … about … but I didn't really realize, what … what it _meant_ …" Now she looked up, looked into his eyes. "I … I do remember what happened in that classroom, James – what I did." She hesitated. "Remus was right: I tried to seduce you, I … I practically offered myself to you! After all these years I had rejected you … and suddenly everything you always wanted …"

"No." James cut in sharply, and he sounded almost angry. "That's _not_ what I wanted! This is not about snogging or about a quick shag in a broom shed …"

"I know, James!" Now Lily interrupted him hastily. "_I know!_ And that's not what I meant! It's just …"

"It's just", Remus said, "that it was an offer which was hard to refuse – and people who don't know you well would have predicted a different result: The girl you've (in their opinion) _chased_ for the last years suddenly tries to seduce you ... Whoever is behind this obviously assumed that you would take advantage of the situation – and of Lily."

James face was an expression of disgust. "Probably …"

"Certainly", corrected Remus. "What would have happened next – after the effect of the love-potion would have worn of?"

James paled as suddenly as Lily had. "You …" he addressed her without being able to look at her. "You would have hated me, loathed me – and I would have deserved it!"

Lily, who's head still rested on his shoulder, gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I know you would never have done something like that", she whispered. "I know it."

"But if you had acted as Mr. X expected you to, Lily would have hated you – and it would have broken your heart!"

"Not to mention", Tara added, "that somebody certainly would have told Dumbledore about it, so you most likely would have been expelled!"

"So this plot wasn't about Lily at all?" Sirius asked, astounded. "It was directed against James?" Evidently he had remembered his role.

"Yes, Watson", Remus confirmed. "Somebody tried to frame James to get him expelled – which gives us another clue about our culprit: He hates James."

"Well, that narrows the circle of suspects", James remarked dryly. "That holds true for all the Slytherins."

"Maybe", Remus agreed. "But how many Slytherins we know who are capable of brewing _Amortentia_ – in secret? It's a horribly complicated potion!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Maybe", Remus agreed. "But how many Slytherins we know who are capable of brewing Amortentia – in secret? It's a horribly complicated potion!"

There was a stunned silence that lasted four or five seconds. Then Tara let out a cry of frustration. "I've been so _stupid_!" She took a deep breath. "Remember when I told you I overheard _someone_ talk about Honeydukes selling gingerbread? It was … _he _told one of his cronies that 'they're selling this Muggle-filth at Honeydukes now' …he set my up to it, the slimy git, he knew about James' fight with Lily, knew that I was friend with you both … he _wanted_ me to tell James … what a cunning bastard!"

"So _that's _why he came to Hogsmead and started a fight!" James realized suddenly. "I had to drop the box with the _Lebkuchen_ while I defended myself, and while he distracted me, somebody must have replaced it with another one that contained the spiked …" He fell silent, kind of impressed by the amount of planning that had required. "He obviously had prepared everything for some time now, and when he heard about that fight, it was the perfect opportunity." He frowned. "Hang on! How could he possibly have known what Lily's favorite Muggle Christmas-sweets are?"

"I told him."

James stared. "You told him?"

Lily nodded. "We've known each other since we were kids, didn't you know?" James shook his head, stunned. "We grew up in the same area … he was the one who told me I was a witch, who told me about Hogwarts, about the magical world, about everything …" She tried to suppress a sob. "And I … I of course was curious, wanted to know everything, and I was grateful, so we became friends … he was really nice back then, you know, and always happy to get out of his dark and gloomy place for some time, so we met almost every afternoon … of course he knew what kind of sweets I liked – I shared my _Lebkuchen _with him more than once …" Now she was crying again. "I can't believe he … he did this to me!"

"I can!" James growled through gritted teeth. He carefully detached himself from Lily and rose. His eyes burned with fury, and his hand gripped his wand so tightly that his knuckles were white. "And he's gonna pay! I'm gonna _make him pay_!"

"No!" Lily, Tara, Remus, even Sirius had called out, and Sirius blocked his friend's way. "Stop, Prongs!"

"Get out of my way, Padfoot!" James snarled. Nobody had ever heard him use such a tone: There was more than fury in his voice, it was pure hatred, and James was even more menacing and intimidating than Sirius had been. But Sirius didn't back down. "No."

"What's gone into you, Black? You of all people are trying to hinder me? After you sent him into the Shriekening Shack? Talk about hypocrites! And now _get the hell out of my way_!"

Sirius flinched as if James had hit him, but he didn't move. "No, my friend. You're not thinking straight right now. And I'm not gonna let you repeat my mistake!"

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Everybody held their breath. It was a silent battle of wills: James was shaking and literally baring his teeth, Sirius seemed cool and collected, but his face was white. Suddenly James let out a roar of fury, raised his wand – and a powerful spell reduced a heavy wooden table to smithereens. He slumped back into his chair and buried his face in his hands. Everybody let out their breath, relieved. Sirius hadn't moved a muscle.

"So what now?" James asked after a while, not looking up. Lily had put her arm round him, her head resting at his shoulder again. "Are we gonna let him get away with it?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Prongs!" said Sirius. He was smiling, but it was a thin smile, and there was a steely note in his voice.

James raised his gaze and met his friend's. They looked at each other, but it was a completely different atmosphere than before. "I'm sorry, Pads", he suddenly said. "I didn't know what I said earlier, I … please forgive me!" He hold out his hand, and Sirius grabbed it. "It's okay, Prongs. I knew you didn't mean it. We're friends, we'll always be – just forget it!"

Everybody was startled when suddenly Rebecca moved: Sobbing, she run up the staircase to the girls-dormitory, and they heard her slam the door. There was a moment of silence, then Sirius shrugged and continued: "Of course we won't let him get away, mate, we will pay him back! But not in the way you wanted – we'd only get into trouble if we attacked him, and in the end he'd win. No, Prongs … we'll have to do this differently! And besides …" He fell silent.

Remus nodded. "I knew there was something else", he said, addressing no one in particular. "I know that look, Padfoot! Spit it out already!"

"Well, you see … Snape tricked us, and he did a damn good job with it! His only mistake was one of judgment, of psychology: He hates James, so he expected him to take advantage of Lily – but except of this wrong assumption, his plan was flawless: He prepared the love-potion and waited, and when he heard about the fight, he knew his opportunity and took it. He remembered that gingerbread was Lily's favorite Muggle-sweet, so he spiked a box of it with _Amortentia_. Then he slipped Tara the information about Honeydukes selling gingerbread, and she, not knowing it was part of Snape's plan, told James to give him the opportunity to apologize to Lily. You", he addressed James, "acted exactly as he expected you to: You went straight to Hogsmead, where he engaged you into a fight, so someone else could replace your box with his. And you took it back here, gave it to Lily … well, that's it! It was a perfect plan … almost, at least." Sirius looked uncommonly thoughtful. "I hate to admit it, but I'm really impressed. This plot was damn well thought up – Snape may be a slimy git, but he's got some brains, no doubt about that. Shame that he only seems to use them to hurt people! And we have to be careful: If he really is going to join the Death Eaters, we have not heard the last of him. We've known all along that he's a powerful wizard, and today he has proved to be equally clever, cunning and unscrupulous – he'll certainly be one of the most dangerous of Voldemort's followers, and we'll have to deal with him then!"

His friends stared at him. They had hardly ever heard him speak with such seriousness – and it was highly unusual to mention the dread of Voldemort and the possibility of war that openly. Lily was really impressed; she got to learn a lot about Sirius Black today, and discovered aspects of his character she would never have guessed to exist. "You're right, Sirius. Severus is bound to become a Death Eater, and he will be one of Voldemort's lieutenants. I didn't want to see it for a long time, because I remembered him as a child, when we were friends … But that's in the past, and in the future – what about today? What do you have in mind?"

Sirius looked at her for a moment, then turned to James. "There is another reason I stopped you, Prongs, beside the fact what I wanted to prevent you being expelled for gravely injuring Snivellus. He _tricked_ us – and if you'd just cursed him into oblivion, he would still seem to be the clever one, while you had simply used blunt brutality. No, if we really want to pay him back, we have to beat him with his own weapons: We have to trick him to admit that he is behind the whole thing!"

Silence followed his words. Then James said: "I see your point, Padfoot, and I agree, but I must admit that I've no idea how we could possibly do that. If you think about _Veritaserum_ …"

Remus shook his head. "No, he's gonna expect that. Even if we could get close enough … unseen, I'm sure he's taking the antidote!"

Sirius smiled at his friend. "You're right, Moony, a direct approach will get us nowhere in this case. And it would be stupid to try and beat him by using potions, this being his field of expertise. No, we have to play to his weaknesses, and one of them has become quite clear: He tends to misjudge people, or, if that's a term too general: He sticks to his judgments about somebody, even if that person has changed since. And we must use this weakness!"

He looked round, and four blank faces were looking back at him. "If you have a plan, Padfoot", James told him, "get on with it, please, because I don't have the faintest idea what you're saying!"

"Nor me", admitted both Tara and Remus, and Lily shook her head.

"Well, it seems that it's up to the evil genius of Sirius Black to reveal his brilliant plot – I told you I was an evil genius, didn't I? But you laughed at me, o infidels! Now listen, and learn!" He turned to Lily. "But I will need your help, if the plan's gonna work, Lily. You're gonna play the most important role in it. Are you in?"

Lily Evans looked at him for a second. Then she sat up straight, wiped her tears away, and her expression became determined. "Severus Snape is no longer the boy who was my friend. A friend would not have done this to me. I'm in, Sirius. What do you have me do?"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 

It was shortly after breakfast the next day. Severus Snape had just left the Great Hall and was on his way back to the Slytherin common room, when he heard quick footsteps approach him from behind. Automatically, he reached for his wand, but when he turned, he had no more time to draw it, for somebody crashed into him, and two arms were thrown around his neck ...For a split of a second he was about to struggle, when suddenly he realized ...

„Lily?"

Lily Evans was clinging to him for dear life. Her whole body trembled, and for minutes she was sobbing into his chest, apparently unable to regain composure. Severus was shocked, and confused. He cast a quick glance round: The corridor was deserted, everybody obviously was still in the Great Hall. With uncertain and clumsy movements he started to stoke Lily's back to comfort her. „What is it, Lily? What has happened?"

But she still seemed unable to speak coherently, and only just he was able to pick up tree words: „Potter ... sweets … love-potion ..."

Severus Snape felt as if somebody had pierced his heart with an knife made of ice. He paled and almost lost his balance as realization hit him with terrible force. His plot ... _his_ plot … _What had he done?_ What had he ... How could he have made such a ... such a stupid ... such an _unforgivable_ mistake? He simply hadn't realized ... he hadn't ... blinded by his hatred, he had only thought about what would happen to _Potter_, how he would be expelled and he, Severus, would at last get his revenge! All the countless times Potter and Black had humiliated him ... it was all their fault! Their fault that Lily didn't speak to him any more, that she loathed him – _his_ Lily, the only girl he'd ever loved! And now he had ... _O Merlin, what have I done! _He felt a wave of nausea wash over him, followed by self-disgust, so intense he almost couldn't bear it. _I didn't want this to happen! I never wanted you to be hurt! I would rather die than ... _He felt tears in his eyes and fought them back. It was too late. He couldn't undo what had happened, and nobody would ever believe that he really had not thought of the consequences for _her_, that he had not planned it that way. It was too late. He had made a terrible mistake, and now he had to live with it, with his guilt, his regret, his shame ... The only thing he could do now was carry on his plan. The damage was done, and it wouldn't help Lily if he confessed and sacrificed himself. No, quite the opposite, it would make things worse, fare worse for her: To _him_ she had come for consolation ... didn't that prove she still cared? And he would do anything for her, he vowed to himself, anything at all, for the rest of his life if necessary, to make up for what he had done. But he only could do it if he stayed with her, here at Hogwarts, and after graduation ... he had to finish school, and maybe it wasn't too late after all, to late to set things right between them, and in his life! Maybe, if he would not join the Death Eaters, if he would show Lily that he cared, that he was willing to change, just for her ... but he had to stick to his plan then! Things had gone too fare to stop them now! He had no choice: He had to stick to his plan!

When Lily looked up, Severus' face was inexpressive, which made a strange and rather disturbing contrast to the concern in his voice: „What about Potter and a love-potion?"

„He ... he ..." She struggled with the words. „He ... sweets ... and then ... I ..." At this point she was unable to continue and again buried her face in his chest.

This words, he decided, would have told him everything even if he hadn't known what happened. „That bastard!" he hissed. „You have to tell Dumbledore! That's a crime, Potter is gonna be expelled for it!"

„I can't tell ..." Lily sobbed. „I can't tell anybody!"

„You told _me_."

She looked up. „You're a friend, Sev."

His heartbeat quickened and he couldn't help but smile. „It's been a long time since you've called me that, Lily."

She only nodded.

_Stick to your plan, Severus! _he told himself. _Don't let yourself get distracted!_ „You have to tell Dumbledore, Lily!" he said quietly. „I know it's hard, but there's no other way! Think about it: What if Potter does it again?" He felt her body stiffen in his arms; obviously she hadn't thought about that. „I'm coming with you, and I'll tell Dumbledore what happened ... what you told me – he will know what to do then. Deal?"

„Deal."

Two minutes later they arrived at the door of Dumbledore's office. Being Prefects, they both knew the password („_Knusperkeks_"), so the stone-gargoyle leaped aside and allowed them to enter. Severus looked down at Lily, draw a deep breath and knocked.

„Enter."

Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, looking mildly surprised. However, his expression changed instantly when he perceived the state Lily was in. „Miss Evans! Please, sit ... you too, Mr. Snape." He conjured a large handkerchief and a huge mug of steaming hot chocolate and gave both to Lily, who thanked him with a small smile. "That's better. And now, if you feel like it, please tell me that happened!"

"I will do that, sir." And so Severus told in a few short sentences what had happened – about the fight (everybody knew about the fight), and about the _Amortentia_ in Lily's sweets. Dumbledore's expression didn't show much while he listened, there was only a slight frown when he said: "That are very serious accusations, and quite frankly I'd be most surprised and severely shocked if Mr. Potter indeed should have done something that horrible! On the other hand I know you, Miss Evans, would never rise such accusation without reason. So of course this has to be investigated, and we will start by questioning Mr. Potter himself." He clapped his hands, and a second late a house-elf apparated next to his chair with a typical _crack_. „You have called, Professor Dumbledore, sir?"

„Yes, Steward", Dumbledore confirmed. **[A/N: I don't see why all house-elves must have names like Dobby, Winky, Blinky etc. – well, and Kreacher ****** „Please get Mr. Potter and bring him here immediately!"

„Yes, sir." And with another _crack_, Steward had vanished.

Only minutes later there was a knock at the door, and James Potter entered. Severus had to admit that Potter was a good actor, the change of expressions – surprised puzzlement about being summoned the headmaster's office, intense dislike when he saw him, and care and concern when he perceived Lily – were completely convincing. "Here I am. Professor", he said. "What can I do for you?" His gaze flickered between Dumbledore, Lily and Severus, and he looked confused.

"Please take a seat." Dumbledore's voice was very grave. "I'd like you to answer some questions, Mr. Potter, in order to clarify the circumstances of a certain … incident." He gave Potter one of his famous piercing looks. "Maybe you already know what I'm talking about?"

"No, Professor, I don't."

"Very well. Did you buy a box of sweets for Miss Evans yesterday?"

"Yes, sir. We … I had acted like an idiot before, and she was mad at me, so I tried to apologize …"

"You gave it to her personally?"

"No, Professor. She was up in the girl's dormitories and refused to come down, so I asked Tara – Miss Whitman – to bring it to her." He had kept glancing at Lily all the time, who had started sobbing again silently, her head resting at Severus' shoulder, and concern, jealousy and confusion mingled in his expression. "Please, sir, what's this all about? Why is Lily … and what's _he_ doing here?"

"Like you don't know!" Severus snarled, but Dumbledore held up a hand. "Please refrain from interrupting, Mr. Snape. It's my part to question Mr. Potter, not yours."

"Yes, Professor."

Dumbledore turned back to Potter. "The sweets in that box were spiked with love-potion. Was this your doing, Mr. Potter?"

Potter's eyes widened with shock. "Of course not, sir! I'd never do something that horrible, and least of all to Lily!"

"Obviously he's lying! Who else could have spiked the gingerbread? He …"

"Mr. Snape, be quiet, or you'll have to leave!" Dumbledore's tone was sharp, and Severus hung his head. "Sorry, sir. Won't happen again."

"I hope so." Dumbledore seemed to think about something for a while. Then he spoke again. "It seems to me, what we have two choices to find out the truth: Legilimens or _Veritaserum_. Which one do you prefer, Mr. Potter?"

Now, Potter looked really shocked and scared, and Severus inwardly smiled. _Gottcha, bastard!_ There was no way for Potter to refuse, it would have been highly suspicious. Only a few minutes, and revenge would be his! He would be the one who got the great James Potter expelled from Hogwarts! Only very few people would know, of course, but it would be a sweet feeling nonetheless! He was caught so deeply in his visions that he almost missed Potter's answer: "_Veritaserum_, sir – if I have to choose."

"I'm afraid you have to. But I assure you that I'll only ask questions strictly related to the accusation – and I'm _the only one_ who will ask any questions!" He gave Severus a meaningful look, who nodded: "Understood, sir."

"Good." Dumbledore drew his wand and conjured a goblet of pumpkin-juice out of thin air. Then he opened one of his cabinets, took out a small phial that contained a completely colorless liquid and poured three drops of it into the goblet. "Drink this."

Potter hesitated for a moment, then took the goblet and drained it.

Dumbledore waited a few seconds, the cleared his throat. "Very well then. Mr. Potter, you bought a box of sweets for Miss Evans yesterday?"

"Yes."

"And Miss Whitman gave this box to Miss Evans?"

"Not exactly, sir. She told me she'd put it next to her bed, so Lily would find it there."

Dumbledore nodded, satisfied. It was typical for a person under the influence of _Veritaserum_ that they'd answer very precisely, even tell details they had not mentioned earlier. "Tell me what happened then."

"Well …" Potter was obviously uneasy. "I waited down in the common room for her reaction, and suddenly Lily came running down the stairs and started to kiss me." He blushed. "Then she took my hand and led me to an empty classroom, where …" But Dumbledore interrupted him after a quick glance to Lily, who looked horrified. "Stop. We'll skip the details. Just answer one question: Did you take advantage of Miss Evans in any way?"

Only one second! You'll say 'yes', and everything will be over! You'll never graduate, and you'll have to be grateful if you don't end up in Azkaban! You'll be an outcast … come on! Say it! Yes … yes …y-

"No."

"What?" _I must have … I must have misheard him! _"What?"

"No." James Potter repeated calmly. "I did not take advantage of Lily. I became uneasy very quickly, and I felt that something strange was going on, so I asked her to slow down a little … And when she wouldn't listen, I realized that somehow she had to be under the influence of a love-potion, that she didn't know what she was doing – that she didn't do it willingly. I knew I had to stop her for her own good, but since I didn't want to resort to physical force, I stunned her!"

Severus stared at him, dumbfounded, stunned, shocked. What the hell was going on here? He looked at Dumbledore for help, but the old man looked quite content with himself, he did not even seem to be surprised … but there was something strange in the way he returned his look …

Severus turned to Lily. She had told him about … she would know that … but Lily, he suddenly realized, was no longer sitting next to him, she was standing next to Potter now, and … were they holding hands? Severus felt as if the world had just turned upside down. Thoughts were spinning in his head, nothing made sense any more … "Lily …" he managed to splutter, "Lily, you … you told me …"

"_I_", Lily, who didn't cry any more, spoke in an icy voice that made Severus' blood curdle, "didn't tell you anything, Snape! I said only three words to you: _Potter_, _sweets_ and _love-potion_. Everything else, _you_ came up with. And I would _really_ like to hear how you could possibly know that the sweets in that box were gingerbread, and that the love-potion used was _Amortentia_!"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: This is the last chapter, only to be followed by a short but important epilogue. I hope you like the end of my story. Please tell me your opinions!** Chapter 13 

Severus was lost – lost for words an lost in every possible sense. They had tricked him, _she_ had tricked him, or helped to do so! He tried to think of a way to explain … he could say that the love-potion was most likely to be _Amortentia_, that he had guessed the sweets to be gingerbread, but he didn't. He knew that guilt was written on his face, but he had no strength left to hide it. He didn't care any more. His plan had backfired in the worst way possible, he was likely to be expelled, but he didn't think about that. He wasn't able to think at all, nor to feel anything but overwhelming shame and regret … all he could do was look into two green eyes that used to show friendship once – and showed nothing but fear and disgust now. It almost broke his heart.

"_Mister Snape._" He didn't know how many times Dumbledore had addressed him. He looked up. The old wizard's blue eyes pierced into his. "Sir?" His voice was no more than a hoarse whisper.

"I would like you to answer Miss Evans' questions. How do you know about the gingerbread and the _Amortentia_? Because neither one or the other has been mentioned specifically."

Severus didn't answer, he couldn't. He just sat there, head hung, tears in the eyes, and said nothing.

"Maybe it is your turn now to take the _Veritaserum_?" There the opportunity was … would have been. He had taken the antidote, the truth-potion wouldn't work on him, he would be able to lie … but he had no strength left to try and fool Dumbledore. It was over, and he had lost, lost everything he had ever cared, ever longed for … "What won't be necessary." He had nothing left to fight for.

"So you do admit the you spiked the sweets Mr. Potter bought for Miss Evans?"

"Yes."

"In order to get him expelled?"

"Yes."

"And it didn't occur to you what you would to her?"

"No." This last word was barely audible. _I'm not going to cry! I'm not!_

"Mr. Snape, I'm shocked, disgusted and disappointed! I would have thought better of you! You will go to your dormitory at once and you will stay there until I send for you. Now get out of my office!"

Slowly, Severus got up and, without rising his gaze, left the room.

After the door had closed behind Snape, Dumbledore turned to Lily and James, a stern look on his face – but his eyes were twinkling merrily. "And what am I going to do with you two?"

Lily avoided his gaze guiltily, but James, who had heard that particular question far to often to be bothered (only it had always been Sirius next to him before, and the most certainly had not been holding hands), responded with a goofy grin. "You consider yourselves pretty smart, don't you? And you are, no doubt about that! On the other hand, it would not be fair if …" He clapped his hands and yet again the house-elf appeared. "Steward, please fetch Misters Black and Lupin, and Miss Whitman as well", he ordered. "I think you'll find them right outside my office, hiding under an Invisibility Cloak." He smiled at James' shocked expression and continued. "Ask them to join us, please."

"Yes, sir!"

James stared at Dumbledore. "Professor, how do you …"

"… know about your Invisibility Cloak? You're not the first member of the Potter family I had the pleasure to teach at Hogwarts, you know? I caught your father once, when he tried to … well, I think he should tell you the story! Just ask him what happened in his fifth year, involving a certain fourth year Ravenclaw-redhead …" He winked. "You could ask your mother, too – she knows the story as well!" His eyes became reminiscent, and he murmured something about "Potter-boys" and "redheads".

Both James and Lily (who had blushed again, more deeply than before) were truly relieved when there was a knock on the door, and Sirius, Remus and Tara entered, looking confused. Dumbledore drew up two more chairs (literally spoken, with his wand), an gestured politely. "Miss Whitman, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin – please take seats." They did, and for some time he observed the five youths silently. Then he looked at Sirius. "So that's what you're using your brains for, Mr. Black? Except of planning pranks, of course."

If Sirius was startled by this, he hid it well. "What do you mean by _that_, Professor?" he asked, rather harshly. "Helping my friends? Getting back on a … _snake_ for trying to get my best mate expelled and hurting his … hurting _our_ friend? Yeah, _that's_ what I'm using my brains for!"

"Not to mention", Remus added quickly (for Sirius' tone had been almost offensive), "what he – we – managed to get a confession out of Severus without having to resort to … more drastic measures."

"And he only got that he deserved, sir", Tara chimed in. "He was impaled by his own sword, if I may say so."

Albus Dumbledore smiled fondly at his students. "It was not my intention to criticize you, Mr. Black – although I would really appreciate if you could consider to direct at least a small part of you considerable intelligence to your classes. In fact I intended to tell you – all of you! – that I'm really proud of you!" They gaped at him, surprised. "First of all, Mr. Potter. You really showed your quality in this incident: chivalry, honour – and strength of character in the face of temptation!" Both Lily and James were crimson again, while their friend chortled with laughter at Dumbledore's choice of words, and the headmaster clearly was enjoying himself. "The qualities of a true Gryffindor – and a good man. Then, Mr. Black. As I said before, you've come up with a really clever plot to trick Mr. Snape into revealing his own deeds, I'm truly impressed! But what impresses me even more than your cleverness is your loyalty. You are willing to do anything for your friends, and that also is a sign of a true Gryffindor." He looked at Tara and Remus. "That also holds true for you two, for you stood by your friends during a difficult situation. But you are also living proof that Gryffindors are not just _bold_ and _brave_. You've done a fine piece of scientific work by figuring out a way to undo the effect of the cross-magical interaction! Filius has often argued that you two belonged to his house, and you certainly would have done well in Ravenclaw, too."

Dumbledore sat silently for a while. Then he turned his gaze to Lily. "Now, you, Miss Evans … you've had a hard day, I'm sure: being drugged, being stunned, being trapped inside you body, not knowing what happened or what to do …" He looked at her kindly, and despite herself, she felt tears in her eyes again. James put his arm around her shoulder. "But still: Here you are, unharmed. You've found a strength inside yourself you didn't know you possessed. And you've learned a valuable lesson today: You learned to trust – even the Marauders!" he added with a chuckle. Everyone smiled and looked at each other. Then Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Each of you will receive 50 points for Gryffindor in recognition of your display of true Gryffindor-virtues." James and Sirius high-fived, and the others looked quite pleased with themselves. The headmaster smiled at this, but when he continued, his voice was serious. "There is one more question." They all fell silent at once. Dumbledore now addressed James and Lily. "What Mr. Snape tried to do to you was terrible, and the consequences, if he had been successful, would have been most severe. He certainly will be punished, and I have to tell you that his deeds would even justify his expulsion from Hogwarts." There were five sharp intakes of breath at this words. "Since you would have been the ones to suffer from his actions, I'd like to hear your opinions on this matter. The decision, however, will be mine alone."

Lily and James looked at each other. "What do you think, James?" she asked.

He hesitated. "I'm not sure … There's a part of me that just wants to pay him back, to hurt him as much as possible because of what he tried to do to you." He smiled a little. "But that's that part of me Padfoot had to stop yesterday – and I don't want that part to make my decisions. And I think that in some way I'm responsible for what happened: If I hadn't bullied Snape that much during the last years, he would not hate me like that today, and maybe he would not ever have come up with that plan … On the other hand …" He fell silent. "What do you think?"

"I …I don't want him to be expelled", she said, hesitant, but determined. "There was no actual harm done, quite the opposite, and …" She drew a deep breath. "… and I think he told the truth before: He really did not realize what he would do to me! He was … blinded by his hatred. I know that he'll never again be the Severus Snape I knew, but he was my friend once, and I want to remember him like that …" She looked at Dumbledore. "I don't want him to be expelled."

The headmaster wanted to speak, but was cut off by Sirius. "You know, Lily, if I were in you place", his voice was rough, "I would have done anything to revenge myself upon him!" He looked at her, an his expression softened. "You're a far better person than me, Lily Evans!"

Lily was speechless at this. She just squeezed his hand as a thank you.

"I could not have put it better myself." Dumbledore got up. "Mr. Snape will remain at Hogwarts – but he will be punished most severely, I assure you. And I will let him know that you two argued for him … he may learn something from it. And now off you go, all of you. Since you missed breakfast, I'd suggest you go and visit the house-elves … I'm sure they'll be delighted! But don't get yourself caught!" He winked.

"We'll try not to", James answered, grinning.

They were almost out, when Lily remembered something. "Professor, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Miss Evans."

"How did you know that Sirius came up with the plan?"

The others turned back to listen. "Dear Miss Evans", Dumbledore answered, smiling, "if you had observed five and a half years worth of Marauders'-pranks instead of yelling at one of them all the time (Lily's cheeks of course turned pink again at this), you would have notice that each of them has his own style, which is quite unmistakable, like a signature. Mr. Potter's pranks are simple, carefree, elegant – and most likely successful." His eyes twinkled. "Remember the one time he turned the hair of all the Slytherins pink? That was a typical Potter-prank: one simple spell, and three quarters of the school were laughing all day – including most of the staff, in fact!" James grinned. That one had always been one of his favourites.

"But if I remember rightly", argued Tara, "the Slytherin's hair would switch colour whenever someone tried to put it right and undo the spell!"

"That's right, Miss Whitman", Dumbledore confirmed. "In the end it took Professor Flitwick almost two hours to find a counter-spell … but that was not Mr. Potter's work! I should think Mr. Lupin here can tell you everything about that part. Yes", he said, when Tara looked at Remus in surprise, "that was a typical twist of Lupin: highly skilled charmwork, that's his mark! Like bewitching the hour-glasses that show the house-points so that every point awarded to Slytherin is added to Gryffindor, while all points lost by a Gryffindor are in fact taken from the Slytherins." He smiled at Remus, who was glowing under Tara's admiring look. "That was really advanced spellwork, and I must confess that I was highly tempted to award at least 20 points to him – but I think Horace would not have approved, he was fuming already!"

They all laughed. "But you asked for Mr. Black's signature", Dumbledore continued. "Well, his pranks always require nerve and daring, are a little rough and blunt sometimes and have the fatal tendency to get out of hand …" He looked at Tara and Lily over his halfmoon-spectacles. "I trust you to remember that day back in your forth year when you found your … ah … underwear wave from the Astronomy Tower, a sign underneath, saying: _From the lovely Gryffindor fourthyear witches_?" He chuckled as he saw the two girls glare draggers at Sirius, who just shrugged nonchalantly. "That was a typical Black!"

"But today's plot was completely different!"

"No really, Miss Evans. Do you realize that to get your garments he somehow had to bypass the charm that usually prevents boys going up the stairs to your dormitory? There was some seriously thinking done there! And as for today: In my opinion it requires both nerve and daring to come to my office, playing a charade like you did, trying to fool me long enough to get Mr. Snape to confess." He looked down at her. "And it could have gone wrong, too: What if I had insisted on questioning _you_? Would you have been able to act as convincing as Mr. Potter? If not, I might have gotten the impression of you trying to frame Mr. Snape! And what if I had not offered Mr. Potter the choice between _Veritaserum_ and _Legilimens_, but had insisted on the latter? I'm quite sure there are some things in his mind he doesn't want me to know – which is quite natural, of course." Lily looked shocked, she evidently hadn't thought of this. "But that's a Black to you: Planning is quite useful, but it will only get you so far, and for the rest: take the risk and trust to luck!"

Professor Dumbledore still looked at Lily. "May I ask you a question in return, Miss Evans?"

Lily was surprised, an a little unsure: "Of … of course, Professor."

"Now that you got to know Mr. Potter a little better – will you at last go out with him when he asks you the next time?"

That Lily had not expected, and she blushed furiously once more. But she didn't look away this time. "Yes", she said, smiling. "Yes I will."

"That's good to know", he answered kindly. "Well, of you go!"

That they did. They had, however, not taken more than a few steps, when they heard him call: "Mr. Potter?"

James turned. "Professor?"

"Just so you know: I'm about to break my promise!"

James looked at him, confused. "What …" Remus' eyes, however, widened.

"Rumour has it that you love Miss Evans – is that true?"

And James Potter, still under the influence of the most powerful truth-serum known, turned to Lily Evans, his heart in his eyes: "With all my heart and all my soul."


	14. Epilogue

Epilogue 

It was dinner time on the same day. James and Lily, Remus, Tara an Sirius were sitting together at the Gryffindor table, laughing, eating and talking happily. Both couples were holding hands. Rebecca was there, too, but sat a few seats away, looking lonely and casting sad little glances at Sirius, who ignored her completely. Dumbledore, who was talking to Professor MacGonnagall, had swapped his pointy wizard's hat for a red and white Santa Claus'. The six Hufflepuffs who had stayed at Hogwarts had started to sing Christmas songs, and to everybody's surprise the Ravenclaws had joined in. Only the Slytherins showed no Christmas-sprit, but seemed moody and gloomy and now and then cast dark looks at James. Severus Snape was nowhere to be seen.

"I bet Dumbledore ordered him to stay in his dormitory", Sirius just said. "Serves him right!" James and Lily changed a look. "What?" Sirius demanded. "It does! And he should thank you on his knees that he won't be expelled!" But then he sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I imagined it would be sweet to trick him, to get back on him, but it wasn't – it isn't. I never thought I'd say that, but … I almost feel sorry for him. He was so miserable, so completely broken … he didn't even try to … to weasel his way out. The possibility would have been there, you know? If he really had taken the antidote …" He fell silent. "It's a bitter victory."

James nodded. "Yes, it is. I saw the pain in his eyes, although he tried to hide it. I know what it feels like, believe me! Maybe Snape and I have more in common than we ever knew …"

"Talking about miserable", Remus said quickly, to cover the awkward moment that followed James' words. "Why don't you talk to Rebecca, Padfoot? She looks really miserable …"

Sirius' expression darkened. "There's nothing to say!"

The others changed a look. Then Lily laid a hand on his arm. "You know she is sorry, and you should know she didn't mean it, Sirius. She apologized to James and me, and she would apologize to you, too – if only you let her."

For a second it seemed as if Sirius would get angry, but he only sighed and hung his head. "You're right, Lily, I know she would. But I don't think she didn't mean what she said … about me hitting her." Lily wanted to say something, but he continued. "I've seen it in her eyes – there was fear in her eyes, Lily, she was scared of me!" He looked up, with an almost pleading expression on his face. "I know I've not the best reputation when it comes to girls, but … did you ever think of me as somebody who would hit a girl?" His gaze flickered between the two girls. "Lily? Tara?"

"No!" – "Never!" both said without a second's hesitation, and Lily added: "You know that I didn't like you very much, Sirius, before I got to know you … I took you for a player who didn't care about anyone but himself, especially not about all the girls you dated and dumped … but I would never believed that you would hit a girl, never!"

He gave her a sad little smile. "That's good to know. But Rebecca … she really believed that I'd hit her …" His voice tailed away, and his next word were barely audible: "I know that look far too well …"

The girls' eyes widened in shock and disbelieve, and Lily opened her mouth … but James shook his head warningly, and once again Remus changed topic – kind off: "Come on, Padfood, I know there is something else!" Sirius raised his gaze, looking slightly alarmed and suspicious. "What about the gingerbread? What did you smell?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Moony."

"Oh yes, you do. You were smelling the gingerbread to check if it really was _Amortentia_, and then you said: _It's Amortentia all right! I can smell …_ And then you fell silent and only repeated: _It's definitely Amortentia._"

"You're right, Moony", exclaimed James. "I had completely forgotten!" He grinned at his friend teasingly. "Come on, Padfoot, don't be shy! What did you smell? Or should I say: Whom?"

Sirius glared at Remus, who only smiled innocently. "You don't miss anything, Moony, do you?" he growled.

"I try not to, my old friend", Remus answered. "It would take lots of fun out of my life – and don't try to change topic!"

"All right!" Sirius gave up. "Problem is, I don't know myself …" At the disbelieving looks of his friends he added: "I swear it's the truth! Of course I recognized some scents: the smell of the air in a cold, cloudless night when we are running through the woods … the mingled smells of butterbeer and the fire in the common room … the smell when, after a long and strenuous Quiddich-training, I come fresh from the showers …" He fell silent, obviously embarrassed. "But there is something else, a scent I just can't place … its … I can't even describe it!"

"And it has nothing to do with Rebecca?"

"No. I'm sure about that!" They sat in silence for a moment. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were singing _Winter Wonderland_. Then Sirius said, very quietly. "I … I don't think it is anything I've smelled at Hogwarts … somehow it makes me think of … of …"

"Of what, Padfoot?" James asked, just as quietly. Sirius looked at him. "Of your place, Prongs. It may be something I've smelled there somewhere … but I can't think of anything …"

"Well, as long as it's not my mum's perfume …"

For a moment, the exploding laughter from the Gryffindor table drowned every other noise in the Great Hall. The singers lost their tune and turned round to see what was so funny, the Slytherin's stares became even darker, and Rebecca looked even more lonely than before. But as nobody could detect the reason for all the laughter, everybody soon returned their attention to themselves, and the first tunes of _Jingle Bells_ could be heard.

Still laughing and cracking jokes about Sirius having a crush on James' mum, the five Gryffindors rose to leave the Great Hall. But when James, Sirius, Tara and Remus reached the door, they suddenly noticed that Lily was not with them. When they turned around, they saw her standing in front of the teachers' table, her wand pointing to her throat.

"Hey, James!" she called, just as he had called her countless times before across the Great Hall. "Wanna go out with me?"

Silence was in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – it might have been empty. But James Potter didn't realize it. He didn't notice the incredulous looks that were directed at him, nor the happy expressions of his friends next to him, not even the red-haired girl who had spoken and who was now, somewhat anxious nonetheless, waiting for his reaction … nothing of this reached him. He was so filled with joy, relief and sheer happiness, that for a moment it simply overwhelmed him, leaving no room for anything else. She wanted to go out with him! The one girl he had loved for years, who had rejected him again and again, had turned him down countless times, the girl of his dreams had asked him out! Someone nudged him, words were spoken far away … his vision was blurred, were there tears in his eyes? He opened his mouth, unable to form words …

Then, suddenly, he felt himself embraced softly, and the voice of Lily Evans whispered into his ear: "I'll take that for a yes." And James Potter, head-Marauder, master prankster, captain of Quiddich, buried head in her neck and started to cry silently, in the middle of the Great Hall. He was oblivious to the fact that everybody was staring, and if he had noticed, he wouldn't have cared, for his dream had come true at last.


	15. Author's Note

**A****uthor's Note**

Well, that's it, the end of my story – I hope you liked it. I want to thank you for reading it and especially for reviewing! And if you, after unwrapping your presents and eating Christmas-cookies, have some minutes to spare, I'd _really_ like an overall review: What do you think about the whole story? Which parts/characters did you like? Where do you see room for improvement? Please tell me what you think and brighten my holiday!

You might have noticed that there are some loose ends in this story: What did Sirius smell? Did Lily or Tara notice Sirius' (unintended) allusions to Remus' 'furry little problem'? Did you? And what will happen when Tara learns about it?

If you're interested in the answers to this questions, look out for the upcoming sequel _Sirius-ly In Love_ (not very inventive, I know, but I like it): James, Lily and Sirius (and maybe Remus and Tara as well, I've not yet decided …) go to the Potter-mansion over Christmas … more Marauder's fun is granted!

Lastly, you might also have noticed that my story has not been beta-ed, and, as I'm no English native-speaker, there certainly are a lot of mistakes (only recently I realized the difference between _sight_ and _sigh_ – but you have to admit that's a tricky one!  ). So if you are interested in beta-ing my next story, please contact me!

But the most important thing: **Please review! Thanks.**

**Merry Christmas and a H****appy New Year to ****all of you**


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